Conduit of Central City
by AlphaPheonix
Summary: Cole MacGrath, Demon of Empire City, finds himself spared from the fate of all Conduits upon activating the RFI by Kessler and sent to another world. Now in Central City, home of Team Flash, can Cole's newfound allies help him home? Or will Cole make a new home and name for himself here while helping Barry Allen face the Thinker, Clifford Devoe. (Cole x Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost)
1. New City, New Hero

**(Cole MacGrath's POV)**

My name is Cole MacGrath. A few months ago, I was caught in the middle of an explosion in my hometown of Empire City. After a few weeks spent lying in a coma, I woke up to find I had superpowers. Not long after that, I discovered that a man by the name of Kessler, a version of me from an alternate future, had framed me for the explosion. For two months, I fought against psychotic gangsters, delusional cultists and other people with superpowers called Conduits. Finally, I faced Kessler and learned the truth. He ruined my name, my life and killed the woman I loved to harden me and see that I would be ready to face a threat that had destroyed his world and killed his family. The Beast. A Conduit of immense power and strength.

I was set to meet up with a man who could help me fight the Beast and stop my world from being destroyed when the Beast suddenly appeared in Empire City. I fought him with everything I had but it wasn't enough. Along with my pal Zeke and an agent from the NSA, Lucy Kuo, we traveled south to New Marais to meet Dr. Wolfe, the man who would help me. In New Marais, I got stronger and learned some new tricks as the Beast slowly but surely followed me while I fought with the local militia and a group of artificial Conduits. Finally the Beast was in New Marais and with Wolfe's Ray Field Inhibitor, I faced the Beast one last time.

* * *

I surged as much energy into the RFI as I could. The pain was unbearable. It was like every part of me was on fire. Then as suddenly as it all started, the pain stopped. I opened my eyes and looked around, finding myself in the middle of a black void. "Your job's not over, Cole. But you're definitely not ready," came the voice of Kessler from every direction. "You need more time. It's time for a new life, Cole." All at once, I was no longer floating in the black void and the RFI wasn't in my hands. I felt wind rushing past my face and looked down to see I was falling face first to a city that definitely wasn't New Marais down below. I tried activating my Static Thrusters, but my energy was drained from turning on the RFI. Good thing a fall like this wouldn't kill me. I had just passed the roof of a building before I managed to latch onto a ledge and sighed before climbing back up and bringing myself to the roof.

I looked around, trying to place where the hell I was. I turned on my phone in its holster on my pack and dialed Zeke only to be answered by an old lady. I hung up and looked at my phone. I hit speed dial, I know I did. Zeke was pretty much the only contact I had. I put my phone back in place before I noticed something in an alley below me. Someone in a red onesie moving at high speeds fighting a fucking samurai of all things. The red guy was thrown into the side of a dumpster and the samurai got ready for an attack. I drained a nearby fuse box, jumped down and started a Thunder Drop, bringing the attention of the samurai to me. The guy in red sped away as I came down and unleashed a shockwave of lightning, knocking the samurai off his feet. "I think you're in the wrong point in time, man." I watched as the samurai stood up, sparks seeming to come from its body.

"Who are you," it asked, katanas drawn as he faced me. I pulled out my Amp and grinned as I extended it and surged lightning through it.

"Your match." The samurai ran forward and swung for my head. I dodged under it and rolled behind him before slamming the Amp into his back. I hit him once more before latching the Amp onto his neck and lifting him over me before slamming him into the ground. I kicked him away from me and into the dumpster. I pulsed to drain more energy to send an Alpha Missile at him when I felt the electronics in his body. I chuckled before planting my foot on his chest, keeping him down as the red guy came back and I drained him before getting off of him and picking up one of the katanas. "Nice souvenir."

"What did you do to him," asked the red guy.

"Its not a him." I knelt down and removed the face mask, revealing a cybernetic head. "It's a fucking robot."

"What the hell?"

"Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't felt the electricity in him myself. Thought something was off when he was sparking all over the place after that Thunder Drop. You ok?"

"Yeah. Thanks for the help."

"Don't mention it." I knelt down and pulsed again to make sure it was fully drained and felt a secondary power source. I placed the Amp on its face and surged to overload whatever was still running in it and stood up. "Thing should be dead now."

"Can it technically be considered dead? I mean, it's a robot." I kicked it in the abdomen and looked at him with a shrug.

"Seems dead to me." I leaned against a wall. "So, who the hell are you supposed to be?"

"You're kidding right?" He gestured to his onesie, specifically to the lightning bolt on his chest.

"That supposed to mean something, Speedy?" His shoulders slumped as looked at me.

"Come on, man. Speedy's not even a guy."

"Alright then, tell me who you are."

"I'm the Flash." I stared at him as he looked at me expectantly.

"No idea who you are." He deflated slightly before looking at me.

"Why don't you tell me who you are."

"Guess you're as clueless about me as I am about you."

"Should I know who you are?"

"Most people either flock to thank me or run at the very sight of me. You're doing neither, which means either you've been living under a rock, or I'm a long way from home."

"How long?"

"Don't know for sure." I looked out at the street before looking at him. "Ever hear of a city called New Marais?"

"No. Should I have?"

"Empire City?" He shook his head. I chuckled coldly. "Oh, that's just wonderful."

"What is?"

"You got a place I can crash at? This is gonna take some explaining."

"Uh… what?" I noticed his hand move slightly to his ear. Probably had an earpiece under that cowl he was wearing. "Uh… just hold on." I looked at the katana and grinned as I put the Amp back in its place and swung the sword around as I channeled electricity through it.

"Take your time talking to whoever you need to, man. You know how often I've wanted to own an actual katana?" I swung it around like I would the amp and stabbed it through the robot's head before flicking it off. "Oh yeah. I'm keeping this."

"Hey, that's evidence!"

"Evidence? Has this thing killed anyone? Threatened anyone? Or just attacked you?"

"He caused a lot of injuries to the police last night."

"Oh, come on! It's not even moving. You can just say it didn't have a second one out when you encountered it." I picked up the sheathe from the robots back and put the katana in it before slinging it next to the Amp. I looked at him. "Got a place or am I gonna have to find another place to hide me from the rain?"

"Just… hold on." He grabbed my shoulder and took off. We made it about five blocks before my body instinctively drained the lightning that he was generating with his speed and we slowed down until he looked at me and saw my arms sparking with his yellow lightning. "What the hell?"

"Sorry. Body kind of does that on its own when getting struck. I'll try and control it."

"See that you do, man. I don't like going slow." I controlled the drain and this time we sped off like he meant to. Within a second we were in what looked like a science lab. I looked around and spotted a few people in the room.

"These your friends?"

"Yeah."

"You're the one that killed that android samurai," asked a guy with long hair.

"Yeah. Took his sword, too." I slung it off and unsheathed it before channeling lightning through it with a grin.

"You can generate lightning?"

"Generate it, drain it, convert it, throw it. I can do it all."

"Who are you?"

"Name's Cole MacGrath. Don't suppose any of you have heard of me?" I saw each of them shake their heads. "Figures. Dammit, Kessler."

"Who's Kessler," asked a woman with long brown hair.

"You want the short version, or the long version?"

"How long could your story be," asked the Flash.

"You're gonna want to sit down. This is gonna take some time to explain."

* * *

**(Caitlin's POV)**

When Cole was finished telling us his story, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. His life had been changed so much in so little time and he'd lost so much. And he doesn't even know if the Beast was stopped. It didn't take a genius to tell Cole was from another Earth. Only problem was to see which Earth he was from. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that," I told him. He gave me a reassuring nod before looking at all of us.

"So I take it," he said. "The idea of alternate universes isn't a stretch for you?"

"Not really," said Cisco. "We've actually been to Earth 2 a number of times."

"Earth 2?"

"The version of Earth closest to this one," I said.

"Got it. Since you guys are the experts compared to me, you mind helping me get home?"

"That shouldn't be a problem. We just need to figure out where your home is."

"And how do we do that?"

"Well, each Earth has their own vibrational frequency," said Cisco. "We just need to see which universe you're from by seeing how your molecules vibrate then I can Vibe you home."

"This won't hurt will it?"

"It won't," I reassured him. He gave me a quick smile before standing up.

"Alright. Do what you need to do, then." I nodded and me and Cisco got to work on scanning Cole. He turned to me as we started working. "What's your name, by the way?"

"I'm Caitlin." I shook his hand. "That's Cisco, Iris and her brother, Wally, and father, Joe." Wally removed his cowl and shook Cole's hand.

"I take it you're all a team?"

"Yeah," said Iris. "Together, we keep Central City safe."

"From anything other than robotic samurai?"

"More than that," said Cisco. "We help stop Metahumans from wreaking havoc in the city."

"What's a Metahuman?"

"I think," I started. "Your closest equivalent is Conduit based on your story. Though our powers seem to manifest differently than yours."

"Yeah, that's a give in. I'd been brushing up on Conduits back in New Marais. None of them can move as fast as Wally. Even the Ice Freaks were only about twice as fast as a running back."

"You've got football on your Earth," asked Wally.

"It think it's a standard if there's a US."

"That and the Godfather, apparently," said Cisco.

"Oh, now that's a classic."

"We really should be thanking you, by the way. With the Samu-roid, boom, first try, no longer threatening the city, we can focus on helping our friend Barry, that's the real Flash, by the way."

"And what's wrong with your friend?"

"That's…"

"Also a long story," said Iris.

"Well," said Cole. "Until Cisco figures out where to send me, I've got time. Go on. Tell me your story." So we told him. Everything from the Particle Accelerator explosion to Thawne, Zoom and Savitar. When we told him about Barry having just returned today, Cole turned to us from his pacing. "So your friend is back? What's wrong with him?"

"We were getting to that," said Cisco. "When he was found and brought to the police department, he… wasn't himself. The things he was saying were random, jumbled words and his mind started to drift off to something else at the mere mention of a word."

"And he was writing these strange things on the walls," said Joe.

"Let me see."

"What," asked Cisco. "You think you can decipher it?"

"Hell no. But Trish studied cryptography in college before starting medical training. I think I can help at least start the deciphering process."

"I got pictures of them," said Joe before holding his phone out for Cole. Cole backed away slightly.

"Uh, you're gonna have to put them up on a screen nearby. I touch your phone and I'll short circuit it."

"Uh… Cisco, you mind?"

"On it." Cisco took the phone and downloaded the image onto his computers before showing it on a screen nearby. Cole looked at it for a moment. "Anything coming to mind?"

"Well, one of the things Trish did was sync things up to different lettering systems. English, Spanish, Greek, Sanskrit, whatever she could until the letters could match up properly." Cisco bopped his head.

"Greek? Duh! I've been using a monosymbolic alphabet instead of a multi. Dammit…" Cisco left the room and Cole turned to us.

"Mind if I take a look at the guy? I think I can be of some help. Maybe."

"What can you do," asked Iris. Cole's answer was to simply spark up his hands. We looked at him skeptically before Iris, desperate to get her fiancé back to normal, led him to where we had Barry sedated. I followed them and Iris showed Barry to the electrokinetic. "What are you gonna do?"

"Don't know if it'll work but bear with me." Cole sparked up his hands and laid them on Barry's chest. All at once, the lightning passed over Barry and around Iris and I and Cole started absorbing some of Barry's Speed Force energy before he backed away, his arms sparking with yellow tinged energy. Cole shook his head from the feedback of dark matter energy flowing into him before chuckling. "Well that was new."

"Barry?" Iris went to her fiancé as he groaned, and I turned to Cole.

"Are you ok," I asked him.

"Yeah," he said. "Got a bit of a charge from that. Feels different than normal."

"That would be the Speed Force. It's how Barry and Wally draw their speed. It's an energy that seems to be powered by dark matter."

"Guess that's why it feels differently than I'm used to. But lightning is lightning."

"I think you should rethink that statement. We don't know if this will have an adverse effect on your powers."

"You've got a place to train, right? While I'm waiting for Cisco's program to work, I can just practice there. But I may need a generator or two."

"Actually, I think I can help with that." I turned to Barry as he stood up and looked at us.

"Where's Cisco," he asked. "And why do I have a massive headache?"

"That'd be my fault, bud," said Cole. "Kinda drained some of your… what was it?" He turned to me.

"Speed Force energy," I said. Cole snapped and pointed at me with a smile.

"Uh," said Barry. "Who are you?"

* * *

**(Elsewhere in Central City)**

Clifford Devoe stared at the man covered in lightning from the still image of his android's final moments before it was completely deactivated, much to his anger and surprise. He had the knowledge of the multiverse at his very disposal. Why couldn't he have predicted this man?! This electrokinetic was in none of his predictions! Who was he?! And how much would things change from his predicted path because of him?!


	2. Duality

**(Cole's POV)**

* * *

Cisco and Caitlin stared at me as I finished telling them what Zeke told me about Pyre Night. "Wait," said Cisco. "You actually turned into a vampire?!"

"From what Zeke told me, yeah," I replied as I sipped my beer.

"And you believe him," asked Caitlin.

"Well, considering I woke up the next morning with a migraine and the taste of copper in my mouth, yeah. Well, and there's this." I put down the bottle and reached into my pack before pulling out a silver cross with a wooden stake jutting out from the end of it. "If it weren't for the fact that I found this in my pack and the reports of the people who died that night were thought to be caught in the cave in of the catacombs, I'd have written it off as one of Zeke's tall tales."

"That's…" We were broken from our discussion by Cisco getting an alert that there was something the CCPD wanted him to look at.

"Dammit. Hey, tell me more about the whole Blood Conduit thing when I get back," said Cisco. "And don't skimp on the details!" I looked at him as he walked away.

"I told you I don't remember any of it," I shouted past him. Caitlin looked at me.

"So did Zeke say if they were Nosforatu or Lestat?" I chuckled before sitting across from her.

"What, got a vampire fetish I don't know about?"

"No. It's just a simple question." I chuckled as she hid a blush on her face. "For research."

"Yeah, I'm sure." She cleared her throat.

"Let's change the subject, shall we?"

"Alright." She placed a tablet in front of me showing me footage Team Flash recorded of me showing my powers in their Particle Accelerator. She paused it on me lobbing a Cluster Grenade at a bunch of dummies.

"How are you able to do that?"

"Which part?"

"For one, how are you able to make them in the first place?"

"Uh… I just do. Never really thought about how. My powers just evolved enough for me to do so."

"By acting as a buffer to get generators back in working order in Empire City, right?"

"Yeah. Each time a current was run through me, my powers evolved, and my body adapted."

"I wonder what would happen if we ran another current through you. How your powers would evolve after that, considering we don't have any Blast Cores on this Earth."

"Probably wouldn't do much. My body kind of adapted to convert Ionic Energy to evolve my powers since the Blast Cores."

"Well we won't know until we try, right?"

"Guess you're right about that. But only on one condition."

"And what's that?"

"You show me your other half." Caitlin paused. "Come on. In the last six months since Barry was stuck in that… place, you mean you haven't made a compromise with her? Otherwise I'd have encountered her at least once in the last week. Just based on her showing up on a whim."

"I… it doesn't work like that. Me and Killer Frost do not see eye to eye. I need to keep her in check, so she doesn't hurt anyone."

"Oh, come on. You can't treat her like she's some criminal. She's angry. She just needs to vent. You just need to vent."

"Me?"

"Like it or not, you and her, are one and the same." Cole thought for a second and held up his hand. "Watch." Cole channeled lightning through his hand, letting it arc through his fingers. "This is you." Cole focused on the anger he felt towards Kessler after Trish's death and his anger changed his lightning from blue to red. "And this is her. One is gentle and more passive, the other is more dangerous and aggressive but not outright evil. They both come from the same source. The same person. You just need to accept that she's a part of you and not something you necessarily need to fear. The sooner you stop fearing her, the less you have to worry."

"Is that how you treat your powers?"

"More or less. I'm a living taser. I send too much voltage I can kill someone. Especially if my anger is driving me. Hell, when push came to shove, I drained some of the people I fought to heal myself and protect the people around me. That's one of the few times I use my red lightning when I'm not angry."

"You drained people?"

"Their neurons. The natural bioelectricity every living being has to operate."

"Why would you do that?"

"I didn't have much choice. The Reapers, the Militia, the Ice Freaks and Junkmen? They all got smart. Started turning off the electricity whenever they planned on taking me out. No energy, no way to recharge after taking out enemies at range. No choice." I sighed as I rubbed the back of my head. I felt her hand on my shoulder and gave her an appreciative grin before folding my arms. "So. Can I see her?"

"I… don't know how to bring her out."

"Just… feel for it. I don't know."

"Feel for it?" I shrugged, not knowing what else to tell her.

"You don't have to do it right now. Just give it a chance in the future. I'll change the subject. You want to know how I can do everything? Truth is, I don't know how. My body just acts on instinct and I keep moving. Never bothered learning how it all works."

"Well, then it's a good thing we found you. We can study it. And honestly, it'll help us counter any electricity based Metahumans like Livewire, here."

"Livewire?"

"Oh, right! So, a couple of years ago, when we first learned about the Multiverse, Barry tried finding Earth-2 so we could get the jump on its Metas coming here and the man sending them."

"Zoom, right?"

"Right. Our first attempt had Barry being sent to Earth-38. This Earth had aliens and…"

"Metahumans as well, I suppose?"

"Right. Livewire and the Silver Banshee gave Barry and the hero he met there, Supergirl, a bit of trouble. Mainly because they didn't know how to handle the team up of sonic attacks and electrical discharge."

"Did they try water? That shorts out my electricity."

"I don't know if they thought of that. They just turned the two against each other."

"Well, whatever the case, let's get to studying. You just need me to do what I do, right?"

"Yes. We have highspeed cameras set up in the Particle Accelerator for when we need to monitor Barry's movements while he's running. Head in there and let loose. I'll record it all from the control room and we'll go over the footage then."

"Sounds like a plan." I followed her directions and decided to find something to drain on the way there and back. I pulsed and felt a room where there wasn't a door. I quirked an eyebrow and traced my hand along the wall. I drained a flow of electricity from the wall and saw it fold in on itself. Inside was a secret room with a single pedestal and a yellow version of Barry's suit. Thawne's suit. The Reverse Flash. I went to the pedestal and grinned. "What was the name Barry said? Gideon?"

I watched as a blue holographic face appeared before me. "Hello," it said.

"You're the A.I. Barry develops in the future, right?"

"That is affirmative, Mr. MacGrath."

"You know who I am?" I watched as a picture of me wearing a blue and black blazer with a golden Amp in hand stood proudly atop a building over a man with grey, rocky skin, a collapsed building behind me.

"Cole MacGrath. Hero of the Apokolips Invasion. Founding member of the Justice League, and only member of the League who's identity is not hidden to the public. Married to…"

"Cole," called Caitlin in the hall. I turned away for just a second before turning back to the A.I. and saw it disappear.

"Stupid machine," I muttered before leaving the room and hearing the room close behind me.

"Something wrong?"

"Just trying to find something to drain before and after everything on the way there. Using my powers takes some energy I keep in reserve."

"Hmm. Hey, do you crave more energy?"

"Not really, I just get a headache when I'm in a powered down zone. Lack of nearby electrical sources tends to feel like a dead zone to me. Why?"

"I just remembered the only Meta like you we've encountered. Farooq Gibran. Cisco called him Blackout. He was like you, but he didn't have as fine a control as you seem to have. And he also had a massive hunger for more energy. When Barry first fought him, he actually stole his energy, like you accidentally did with Wally last week. He could even drain the bioelectric energy in a human, much like you said you do."

"So you're worried I'm gonna behave the same way."

"I didn't…"

"Hey, I'm not judging you. You have the right idea to be worried. I'm an unknown element in this world. So this Farooq guy. He better looking than me?" Caitlin rolled her eyes and pushed me down the hall as I chuckled. We spent the next hour going over each of my powers. I demonstrated my Ice Grenade when Caitlin's voice seemed to change, sounder colder and augmented.

"So you control ice?"

"Frost, I assume?"

"That's correct." I grinned at the camera.

"Mind if I meet you face to face?"

"I don't see why not." I walked back to the control room, draining a power box on my way back. When I arrived, Caitlin's appearance had changed. Her skin and hair had turned pale white and her eyes were shining blue. I smiled at her.

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. So, who are you, Handsome?"

"Handsome? Helluva complement. Name's Cole, Beautiful." I grinned as she blushed lightly and hid it by turning away.

"Don't try and butter me up."

"Do you hear anything she does?"

"No. Why?"

"Well then you should hear the compromise I suggested for you."

"What compromise?"

"Instead of you fighting over who gets control, you share control. You both inhabit this body. Sharing it equally like sisters makes more sense than her fearing you and you pushing through. It's not like you can argue that it's not beneficial to both of you. This way you get some leg room and Caitlin knows she doesn't have to fear you. You don't have to be like the Earth-2 version." Frost looked me over before smiling and walking over to me.

"Well, Cole. Why would you suggest this?"

"I know something about duality." I sparked up my hands from blue to red and grinned at her. She smirked at me.

"I think you've given me something to think about. Tell Caitlin I'm not against your little compromise, Handsome." I grinned as she closed her eyes and her appearance returned to Caitlin's. She blinked as she noticed how close we were and blushed before backing away.

"Um… did… did she…"

"We had a pleasant chat. I told her about my suggestion. She told me to tell you, she's not against it."

"Oh! Uh… that's good, I suppose. Um…"

"Look at you two getting all cozy," said Cisco as he, Barry, Joe, Wally and Iris walked into the control room. I chuckled.

"Your timing sucks, Ramon."

"Hey, don't call me that. Alright? It's Cisco." He plugged in a flash drive into his super computer and turned it to us. "Alright, so this is the code I found at the crime scene. I'm using the Cortex's quantum algorithm to try and ID the hacker. But while we wait…" He turned to Barry with a shit eating grin. "I've got a welcome back gift for you." We followed him to where he unveiled Barry's new suit. "Ka-blam!"

"You made me a new suit," asked Barry.

"That I did."

"Yeah," said Wally. "We all know you gave _Barry's_ suit a nice little fancy makeover."

"Envy thy name is Wally," I said with a grin.

"That's not all I did," said Cisco. "It's also got some upgrades. Underneath all this beautiful red, I've built in self-repairing armor, nano-liquid circuitry, full-spectrum scanning and a whole bunch of other words. Chief among them…" he pressed a button and the eyes of the cowl were covered by yellow lenses. "Your own custom HUD." I shook my head.

"You teched out… a suit."

"Excuse me. It's a super suit, thank you very much."

"And what happens when, I don't know, something makes those things a detriment rather than a helpful asset."

"Ok, one: nothing like that is gonna happen. And two: who are you the tech police?"

"I'm a guy who knows technology can be as troublesome as it is convenient. All that tech is gonna come back to bite you in the ass."

"Again. Not gonna happen."

"Well," said Barry. "I for one appreciate it, Cisco."

"Thank you." Cisco grinned and then handed him a binder. "And here's the instruction manual."

"…Yay."

"Really great work," said Iris with a smile as Cisco walked away.

"I know," he shouted over his shoulder.

I looked at the code being looked over by the quantum supercomputer as Barry started talking with Iris. I turned to him as he told her he cancelled the day's training session and Iris' hidden surprise and disdain. I tapped Barry on the shoulder. "Buddy, no offense, but you've been out of the game for six months. You sure cancelling training is smart?"

"Sure. I don't think we need it. Besides, me and Iris should spend a little more time together."

"Have you even spoken with her about this?"

"He hasn't," said Iris. I shook my head.

"You can't just be gone for six months and expect everything to be the same, guy. You want some advice? Sit down and talk. Otherwise you'll be doing more harm than good."

"What," asked Barry. "No. I…"

"He's right, Barry," said Iris. I walked away as Iris started to talk with him and went to the tech lab where Cisco went. He looked up at me as I placed the Amp in front of him.

"Mind giving me some suggestions?"

"On what?"

"The Amp, man. While I'm on this Earth, I might as well get a bit of an upgrade to the Amp."

"The Amp." Cisco picked up the double pronged cattle prod and looked it over. "Not a bad name. What kind of upgrades did you have in mind?"

"How about something to help me shoot from it."

"Shoot from it?"

"Like this." I blasted one of his monitors.

"Hey! Watch the equipment!"

"Sorry. But I want to do something like that but at long range."

"Don't you have a Precision Strike?"

"I do but I use too much energy when I shoot it. I figure if I use a buffer, I can make more accurate shots at range with half the output."

"I see… Leave the Amp with me for a few days. I'll see what I can cook up."

"Nothing on the scan yet?"

"No. It's weird. Normally, we'd be able to figure out where you're from by now. Might be just a glitch though."

"See, technology can be a hassle."

"Not the tech I put into the suit, Sparky."

"Sparky? That's the best you could come up with?"

"Hey, they can't all be winners, alright?" I shook my head and looked over a random device as he looked up at me. "So. You and Caitlin?"

"What about us?"

"Nothing. Just noticed she was blushing as we walked into the control room."

"That was after she resumed control from Frost." Cisco turned to me slowly.

"Frost was in control?!"

"Would you calm down? She was interested in my ice powers and took control to speak with me. While we spoke I put the idea of coexistence in both of their minds."

"Is that such a good idea?"

"The more Caitlin fears her other half, the more dangerous Frost will be. This way she gets peace of mind and you get an ally you can trust."

"How sure are you that this will work?"

"Better the Demon you know, right?" Cisco was about to speak up when his phone beeped.

"Gah…" I followed him as he rushed from the room and alarms started going off in the lab.

"The hell is going on?!"

"My girlfriend is coming!"

"And what's with the alarms?!"

"My girlfriend is coming!" I just kept following him. Cisco stood in front of Wally, Iris, and Caitlin as a blue portal opened behind him. "Whoa! Hey, hey, hey! Hold your fire!"

"It's his girlfriend!" Iris and Caitlin lowered the weapons they were holding as Wally relaxed his stance. As the blue portal closed, a woman jumped out and smiled at us.

"Hey," she said.

"Gypsy," said Cisco. "Can you give me more of a heads-up next time? People who want to kill us come through here."

"Oh. Sorry guys."

"I think this guy damn near had a heart attack at the thought of them firing on you," I said.

"Yeah," said Wally. "Very cool of you to protect your girlfriend like that."

"Dude," said Cisco. "I was protecting you from her. She'd have vaporized you guys."

"Well," I said as I sparked up my arms. "She would try."

"Oh he's right," said Gypsy.

"As you were," said Cisco before turning to her and I shook my head before zapping him in the ass as I walked away. "He-ey!" I chuckled as I felt him glare at me before heading back to the control room. An alert sounded as I was passing lightning between my hands out of boredom and Iris pulled up a screen as Barry and Wally stood beside her. I barely paid attention until Barry raced off with Wally saying he could help.

"He always like that," I asked.

"No," said Iris. I turned to Wally.

"Get me on that car and let me work. I get the feeling something bad is gonna happen." Wally nodded and suited up in a second before racing with me after Barry. We overheard Barry mention it was a runaway and Iris tell Barry which way to send the car with Barry going the opposite way thinking it was safer.

"_Barry,"_ shouted Iris on the coms. _"That way isn't safe! They started construction on that street three months ago!"_

"Wally," I shouted. "Get me onto that car!" Wally raced ahead as Barry raced away for some reason and put me on the car, keeping pace with the vehicle as we came closer to the construction site. I activated my Kinetic Pulse and lifted the car into the air with me on top of it. I hopped off, keeping the car in the air as the tires continued to spin. I looked at the unfortunate driver. "Get out, now!"

"The doors are locked," the man shouted. "I can't get them open!"

"Kick out the windshield! Kid Flash, help him out!" He kicked at the windshield a few times before he managed to break it off. Wally hurried and helped him out of the car. I drained the car while it was still in the air until the tires stopped. Iris had explained to me that cars in this world could be controlled by onboard computers and were practically self-driving. I drained the car completely and dropped it after magnetically locking the brakes as Barry ran back with a toolbox in hand.

"Thank you! Holy crap!" Barry and Wally asked the man if he was ok and what had happened as I looked around. I idly ignored the construction workers as I looked around. Months of fighting gangs meant I was always listening for gunshots, screams of fright, shouts of anger, and anything that could put lives in danger. Wally tapped me on my shoulder, and I turned to him.

"You ok," he asked.

"Kid, I've been in two cities controlled by trigger happy psychos before ending up here. Do you expect me not to be on edge out of instinct?"

"Right. Sorry. Forgot about your situation for a second."

"It's fine, kid." I nodded to the man from the car. "He ok?"

"Shaken up. But he's fine. You should stick around. Tell the police how you helped."

"Yeah, I'm not one for sticking around after helping someone."

"Hey, while you're here, you gotta used to how things work."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Hey. Not everyone is in danger of an out of control gang on this Earth. You don't have to worry."

"Habits, man. Can't really shut them off." I sighed and looked over the car before spotting something on the screen in the dashboard. "Hey, doesn't that look like the code Cisco is going over?" Wally looked in the car and nodded.

"It looks exactly like the same code."

"Looks like our hacker's targeting specific people. Which means there could be more people being targeted. We should show Cisco this. Though how we're going to get it out without driving a potentially compromised vehicle is…" I blinked as Barry dismantled the car before handing me the onboard computer. "…beyond me. Ok, that was annoying."

"You get used to it," said Wally.

"Well, that's going to take a while." I looked at the man before thinking for a second. "Hold on. I want to try something." I walked over to the man. "Pal, I'm gonna need you to stay still, alright?"

"What are you…" He started before I tapped my fingers against his temple and surged my electricity slightly. I groaned before flashes of the car ride from hell played in reverse until the beginning.

* * *

"_What the hell is going on with my playlist? What?" I looked up when I felt someone watching me. "Ramsey Deacon? What the hell?! Whoa! Whoa!"_

* * *

I groaned as I shook my head and he scrambled backwards staring up at me. "You… what'd you…"

"What did you do," asked Barry.

"I reviewed his memories," I said as my vision cleared. "There was a man beside his car before the thing went haywire. A man he knew. Ramsey Deacon. What's weird is the memory showed his eye glowing purple like the coding from the elevator Cisco is reviewing just before the car went haywire."

"How did you know that," asked the man.

"Your memories showed me. Mind telling us how you know him?"

* * *

The man, Tim Kwon, let us know exactly what had been going on. He and Deacon had been co-partners with two other people on a malware program they called Kilgore. Deacon was credited for its creation but with success comes envy. Their partners, Kurt Weaver and Sheila Agnani, had convinced Tim to sell the program to a tech company and leave Deacon out of the deal, swiping the program out from under him. The three of them rose to success while Deacon fell to obscurity. And now it turns out that he's finally taking out his grudge against the three. He'd already killed Kurt Weaver and nearly did the same to Tim. He was out for revenge and wouldn't stop until he got it. And to make matters worse, from Tim's memories, it looked like Deacon was now a Meta. The police soon arrived and took Tim into protective custody. I went with them to help protect him while Barry and Wally took the computer to Cisco to analyze the code. When I arrived, Joe started taking statements from both of us.

I sighed as I walked beside Joe after giving my statement. "Suck it up," he said. "It's procedure to have to do this."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it. In Empire City and New Marais, the police were more than happy to let me move on to wherever else I was needed."

"Those cities were under quarantine and marshal law. Central City isn't. We still have to follow the law here."

"I get it. It's just gonna take some getting used to." Joe bumped into a man as we walked past him.

"Oh, sorry."

"No," said the man. I glanced at him and stared. "It's my bad."

"Joe," I said as the man started walking away. "That's him."

"What," asked Joe.

"That's Ramsey Deacon." Joe looked at the man he just bumped into and took a step forward.

"Excuse me. Sir?" Deacon glanced back as the door he had just past opened and a roving bot came out with a…

"Grenade," exclaimed a cop as people started running away. I drained the bot before it could drop the grenade and turned back to the exit before racing after Deacon who made a break for it in the confusion. I called up the lab using the number Caitlin gave me in case of emergencies.

"_Cole, what's going on,"_ asked Caitlin.

"Tracking the Meta who hacked the elevator and just tried again to kill Tim Kwon! Send Wally here, now!"

"_I can get there faster,"_ exclaimed Barry.

"Bad idea. All that tech in your suit can most likely be sensed by him like I can sense electricity! Wally doesn't have that downside. Hang back or get into a less tricked out suit! Wally, need you here now!" I followed him outside and fired an Alpha Bolt that struck Deacon in the back and knocked him off his feet. A few seconds later, Wally arrived as Deacon stood up and turned to me.

"What the hell," exclaimed the Meta.

"It's over, Deacon. I'm handing you over to the police for the murder of Kurt Weaver and attempted murder of Tim Kwon."

"I didn't do those things."

"Oh really? Then I'm sure those lines of code aren't yours? Guess someone else should take the credit for Kilgore 2.0." He winced before glaring at me.

"Kilgore was my idea! My invention! And they stole it from me! But now?! I am Kilgore! They deserve what's coming! I'm just dishing out justice!"

"Here's what I think of that." I blasted him into the air with a Graviton Blast. Wally went to catch him and diverted course as Deacon started controlling nearby traffic lights to cause several wrecks to stop Wally from getting him. I sent a Bolt Stream into his body until he was on the ground. He groaned as he moved to his knees. Several cops ran up alongside me. He glared as they pulled out what Caitlin described to me as Meta-cuffs. Deacon glared at me before his eyes glowed again and one of the cops faltered slightly as he clutched his chest.

"Modern pacemakers. Useful piece of technology."

"Stop it!"

"Let me go free and I'll let him live."

"I said stop it!" I shocked his head while he was down and started to Pulse Heal the cop who had collapsed to the ground. I restarted his pacemaker and healed whatever injuries he had. He groaned as he sat up and I sighed. I looked at Deacon and saw he was lying still. My bolt had killed him. I frowned as the cops turned to me. "Dammit." Joe ran out and spotted the incident. I turned to the cop with the cuffs and held out my arms. He looked at me in surprise and I nodded. "Gotta follow protocol, right?" The cops hesitated briefly before putting the cuffs on my wrists. I followed them back to the building and glanced down at my fingers before attempting to surge electricity through them. When it worked, I closed them and continued following the cops with Joe standing nearby.

* * *

**(Hidden Location in Central City)**

Clifford Devoe watched the camera footage as the mysterious electrokinetic killed Ramsey Deacon. Twice now this man had disrupted his plans. Not only had the Flash returned at a different point than his plans required, but now one of the elements of his ultimate goal was now dead! Clifford glared at the image as his wife turned to him. "Will this cause complications to the overall goal?"

"…No. It just means I need to rework some things. This anomaly will not even hinder me despite this… unfortunate outcome." Devoe glared once more at the electric man before going to work thinking of a new means of achieving his ultimate plan.

* * *

**(Author's Notes)**

**Thanks for taking an interest in this story, guys. This story has been on my mind for a bit and I thought I'd put it out there and see where it takes me. As for the dialogue, here's the explanation. The inclusion of a new person in certain events will only change the major moments, such as Barry's return to sanity, his new suit and Kilgore's fate. Minor things such as dialogue initially isn't something affected too much by an anomaly like Cole until he puts in his two cents. And yes, for the sake of Cole's powers when he uses his evil karma state, I gave him the experience of using it through the events of Festival of Blood. Review and let me know what you guys think of this. Until next time, Y'all!**


	3. They Call her Lady Luck

**(Cole's POV)**

I sat in a chair across from Caitlin and sighed. A week ago, Joe managed to convince his boss, Captain Singh, that the incident with Deacon was in defense of someone else, something that each of the cops from the scene, including the officer with the pacemaker, Officer Martin Warden, backed up the statement. As a result, my powers were logged in the Central City database in case I ever got out of line and they needed to stop me. Based on the fact that the Meta-cuffs didn't seem to work on me, much to their ignorance, they were gonna have a hell of a time doing it. "That was lucky," she said.

"More like convenient. It's been my experience that luck doesn't really exist." I sparked up my hand as I lazily turned in my chair. "Otherwise all of those people would've survived the Blast and I'd be rotting in a grave right now."

"You act like it was your fault."

"It was. In two ways rather than one. I opened the package and Kessler, who is me, remember? Had the Ray Sphere built and sent to me to detonate. The Blast was absolutely my fault. No luck there."

"You're kicking yourself in the ass for something an alternate version of you did?" I looked at her and saw Frost had taken over.

"More than an alternate me. He wasn't a doppelganger like your Earth-2 self. Kessler was me in a future where I was still with Trish. Where I didn't have to fight my way through a quarantine, gangs and a redneck militia. And after thinking about it, if the Beast had killed my family trying to get to me, I'd have done the same thing. He was me. A broken version of me who lost everything. How he sent me here is a fucking mystery and a half."

"You didn't recoil when I showed up."

"Come on, you're not scary. And you're definitely not the first Ice Queen I've met."

"Who else have you met?"

"Back in my world, Lucy Kuo. She was an Ice Conduit. She's also how I got my Ice Powers." I held up my hand and concentrated. It was more difficult to draw out, but I managed to make my hand emit an icy mist instead of sparking electricity. "She was a bit reluctant to use her Powers, much like how Cait is nervous about trusting you."

"Thank you, for that, by the way. Recently, things have been a bit nerve wracking for her. I doubt she told you, but during Barry's 'sabbatical' I found myself working for a criminal. Amunet Black."

"Let me guess, it's coming back to bite her in the ass."

"And then some. When Cisco came and found her, one of her henchmen confronted him."

"And you know this how?"

"For the last week, we've been keeping a diary about our thoughts. We've discussed about certain things. You in particular."

"Good things, I hope."

"Mostly."

"Mostly?"

"Well, we both agree you can be a bit of a smartass."

"That's a bad thing? You ask me, it means I got a sense of humor. Don't ladies find that attractive?"

"She's the lady. I'm not."

"Brr. I think I've got frostbite from that one."

"And that's what I mean."

"This Amunet gonna be a problem?"

"We'll let you know if it does." Frost relinquished control back to Caitlin and she looked at me.

"What did she say?"

"That I'm a smartass and you think I'm attractive for it."

"Now I know you're kidding. We agreed that was your least attractive quality."

"But I'm still attractive." I chuckled as she blushed and went back to writing her notes on my powers. I looked up as Wally walked in carrying a large teddy bear and flowers. "Aw, Wally, I'm flattered but I'm straight."

"Very funny," said the speedster while rolling his eyes. "These are for Jesse. It's date night."

"Jesse… Wells, right? Earth-2 girlfriend?"

"That's right."

"You know, I should get an interdimensional girlfriend of my own. You've got Jesse, Cisco's got Gypsy." I grinned and turned to Caitlin. "What do you say, Cait?" Caitlin blushed a deeper shade of red as she stumbled in her writing. I chuckled before standing up as Wally walked to the Breach Site. I sat beside Caitlin and smiled. "I'm half kidding, you know. I'd like to go on a date with you at some point before I gotta up and leave."

"I… would actually like that, Cole."

"Great."

"Hey guys," said Cisco as he, Barry, and Iris entered the labs. "Where's Wally?"

"Went to the Breach," said Caitlin, covering her blush. "He's waiting for Jesse."

"Oh," said Barry. "Well, let's go say hi."

"You guys go on ahead," I said. "Barry, got a second?"

"Sure, Cole. What's going on?"

"Alright. I'm just gonna out and say it. How accurate is Gideon?"

"How do you…?"

"I stumbled upon Thawne's Time Vault last week before we encountered Deacon. It knew who I was and had a news article about me. But, wouldn't that mean I don't go home?"

"Uh… not necessarily. I mean, it could be you frequently visit our Earth like Jesse and Gypsy. Last year, even Supergirl came over here to help with the Dominator Invasion. There's a lot of pictures about her and speculation about who she is on this Earth."

"Right. Maybe I end up visiting from time to time."

"You're worried."

"Of course I am, man. I'm here on your Earth and I have no idea what happened to mine. The fact that I'm alive means that the RFI didn't kill me. If that's the case then maybe the same is true for the Beast. Cisco's machine isn't working properly and I'm getting kind of freaked here, man."

"Hey, it's all gonna work out, Cole. We're not gonna stop until we get you back to your world, alright?" I sighed and rubbed the top of my head.

"Yeah, alright."

"And hey, I'm sure things are fine on your Earth. Maybe you just weren't affected fully by the RFI."

"Maybe. Thanks for the talk, Barry."

"Oh, any time. Now come on, you want to meet Jesse?"

"Nah. She's your friend. Think I'm gonna hit the town. Don't like being cooped up inside for a week."

"Alright. Oh, hold on." Barry handed me a wallet that felt like it already had some cash in it. "We don't normally do this sort of thing, but considering you're not from this Earth, we had to make an exception. Cisco got into the Central City Database and made you a state ID using the information you gave us. Engineering bachelor from the University of Texas…"

"Nice to see the Longhorns are a thing on this Earth, at least."

"…Got you a job as a courier and you're from Gotham instead of Empire City."

"Gotham… man that sounds so familiar. Ah, well. Thanks."

"Oh, and since you can't interact with machines without shorting them out, we got you cash and Cisco is currently working on a new means of communication since your phone is outdated here."

"Do you know how it still works since I don't have a phone contract on this Earth?"

"Could be you just piggybacked off of the existing contract of whoever has this number on this Earth."

"Well, hopefully they weren't able to listen in on our call last week. Otherwise your secret is blown."

"Here's hoping." I left Barry to say hello to his friend before heading out into the city. I made sure to do some climbing out of the public view and used my Lightning Tether to pull myself to nearby rooftops like a grappling hook. Gotta love static cling. I ran and hopped across several buildings and hovered to cross a few gaps for a few minutes. After about ten minutes, I sat on the edge of a building and let the sunlight bathe my skin. Since getting here, I've only been outside about twice. Been spending more time working with Cisco and Caitlin to better understand what I can do and where my home is. What continued to bother me is the fact that Cisco's machine hadn't already found my Earth. Something about all of this just felt… off. A few minutes later, I answered my new phone as it went off and I spotted Barry running off.

"Talk to me, Cait."

"Just got a report of a bank robbery," she said. "A woman just walked right in and robbed it."

"You want me to go help Barry? What about Wally?"

"Wally's… indisposed at the moment. The bank is just a few blocks north of the labs."

"Alright, I'll provide backup. Gonna have to direct me, Beautiful. I don't know this city like you do."

"Now's not the time for flirting," said a voice from Caitlin's end.

"Who the hell was that?"

"Cole MacGrath," said Cisco. "Meet Harry Wells of Earth-2."

"I'll say hello in person. Cisco, why don't you just Breach me there?"

"Uh… I need line of sight in order to do so, Cole, and I have no idea where you are."

"Fine. Guess I'll go there the fun way. I'm three blocks west of the labs, just tell me where to go." I hopped onto a powerline and started an Induction Grind heading north and following Cisco's directions. I hovered onto a building across the street from the bank and spotted Barry on the ground. I hovered over and landed next to him. "You ok?"

"Yeah. Just slipped on some marbles. How…?" I looked at a cab that was driving off.

"That where the robber went?"

"Yeah. Just be careful, something strange happened when I got close."

"Got it." I stuck a Lightning Tether to the back of the cab and let it pull me toward the car. I looked to my left as I heard a loud horn and grunted as an 18-wheeler smacked into me at full speed. I grunted as I was knocked a block away and stood up.

"Cole," said Cisco. "Buddy? You ok?"

"Get the license of that truck, Cisco." I popped my neck before draining a nearby streetlamp to heal up as Flash ran over.

"You ok," he asked.

"Just peachy. Should count myself lucky heavy hits and falls don't affect me."

"Did you see where the cab went?"

"Not after I got a face full of metal. Cisco?"

"This girl's luck is unbelievable. She got the only Uber in Central City without a working GPS. Both of you get back here. We need to figure out what happened." Cole grabbed my shoulder and tried running. Just like with Wally, my body instinctively drained his energy and I shook my head from the rush.

"Damn. Sorry. Hold on." I concentrated on keeping my powers in check so he could run us back to the lab and I shook my head as we came to a stop. "I don't think I'm getting used to Speed Force energy."

"It happened with Barry," asked Caitlin.

"Yeah," said Barry, sounding worried. "Something like that hasn't happened since Blackout. I thought I could prevent it this time."

"Or my powers work on a different scale than Blackout. I mean, the Conduit Gene and Meta Gene seem to be two different genetic traits."

"Conduit," asked the man from the radio. I turned to him and saw he was tall with short dark hair and wearing a black outfit. His presence just screamed 'I'm smarter than you so shut up and listen.'

"Yeah. Different Earth. You must be Cisco's favorite person just behind Gypsy."

"What is a Conduit?"

"I'm like a Metahuman." I walked over to the computer and looked at Cisco as he pulled up the security feed from the bank. Turned out the camera was being worked on while this woman robbed the bank, so the footage was like a bad found footage movie.

"That's the least secure security footage I've ever seen," said Cisco.

"Yeah," said Barry. "That's not even the strangest thing she made happen."

"Yeah. The marbles tripping you up," I said. "And the truck hitting me out of nowhere. And the cab not having a working GPS. What kind of superpower causes everyone around you to have bad luck?"

"There's no such thing as luck," said Wells. "It's quantum entanglement. Discreet quantum particles are connected, and when triggered, they stimulate a synchronicity that, to the untrained eye… the common eye… could seem like luck."

"So, kind of like when you save a stranger's life and then years later when your life is in danger they are somehow there to save you in return?"

"Not quite, but yes."

"Huh… is there a way to disrupt it?"

"Disrupt quantum particles and essentially break whatever synchronicity is there to begin with?"

"Not permanently. Just long enough to get in close and stop her powers."

"Hmm… maybe. Ramon. Come with me, we're going to test this." I watched as they walked away before spotting Wally sitting on a cot in the lab infirmary. I walked over to him and tapped his arm.

"Everything good man?" He looked up at me and back down at the floor, shaking his head.

"Jesse," he said. "She uh… she broke up with me."

"Damn man. Sorry to hear that." I sat next to him.

"She broke up with me with a cube, man!"

"A cube?" He went on to explain the whole Break Up Cube thing of Earth-2 and I shook my head. "That's messed up." I stood up and went to the fridge before pulling out a couple of beers. I zapped off the caps and handed him one before sitting back down. "What are you gonna do?" Wally hopped off the cot and looked at me.

"I'm going to Earth-2. I… I need to hear this from her in person. Not from a cube."

"Just remember to keep a cool head, man. Going in angry is not a good thing, trust me."

"Got any advice for staying calm?"

"Just keeping it down and vent when everything is said and done. Or, you can focus on good and happy thoughts. Sounds like crappy advice, but it's the only kind I got."

"Better than no advice at all." He handed me back the untouched beer and clapped me on the back before speeding off to the Breach Site. I sighed and walked over to the lab where Cisco and Harry were working on an equation.

"Hey, Wells."

"What," he asked, not turning from the equation. "I'm busy."

"When you're done figuring out a way to disrupt Lady Luck's powers…"

"Unoriginal," said Cisco.

"…You mind figuring out what's wrong with the computer in the lab. Cisco's trying to find the Earth I'm from, but it hasn't found anything yet."

"No. It's working fine. Don't need your help, Harry."

"Did you calibrate the…" started Harry.

"Yes."

"What about…"

"Yes!"

"Cisco," I said. "Swallow your damn pride and let him help, or I swear to god I will fucking zap your ass." I turned to Wells. "Please help me. I need to see if my world is safe or not." Wells looked me in the eye before turning back to the equation.

"I'll fix Ramon's computer when we're done with this," he said.

"Thank you." I picked up the Amp and looked at Cisco. "Did you…"

"No, I didn't do anything to it," he said. "Was busy all week trying to figure out how Deacon became a Meta. He wasn't in Central City when the Particle Accelerator exploded. I did, however, think of a way for you to shoot with it, though. Channel a current through it like you would when shooting a bolt at someone. It won't give you better accuracy, but it should decrease the amount of electricity needed for a bolt. Everything else I suggest you stick with the normal method until I think up of something." I tried holding the Amp aloft but found it was difficult to hold that way. I moved it to the crook of my arm and stared down the shaft towards the prongs as electricity arced between them. I fired off a shot at the wall and grinned as it covered the wall before dissipating.

"It's like an Overload Burst, now. Wider spread with the same output as an Alpha Bolt. That'll do."

"Hey, guys," said Caitlin as she walked in with Barry. "I was digging up information on the Meta that robbed the bank. Her name is Becky Sharpe. She moved here to Central City. She doesn't have any prior criminal history, but she is in the system."

"For what?"

"Well, her car's been rear-ended four times, her identity stolen twice, and her cat was taken by a cat burglar."

"Wait," said Cisco. "As in a cat burglar…"

"Or a burglar of cats," I finished, thinking the same thing.

"Guys," she said. "Be serious."

"Fine, fine. So she was unlucky for I'm guessing majority of her life. You said she moved here three years ago?"

"Yeah. A year after the Particle Accelerator explosion."

"So she wasn't exposed to the first initial wave of Dark Matter," said Cisco. "Just like Deacon."

"Where the hell did these two get exposed to Dark Matter," I asked.

"I think we should find out," said Wells, clearly very frustrated. "Ramon. Allen. MacGrath. Come with me." He picked up a device and Cisco followed after him. I looked at Caitlin as I holstered the Amp.

"Be honest. What am I getting myself into?"

"Old married couple well into their eighties," she said with a smirk. I groaned as I followed them before turning to her.

"Hey, when I get back, let's discuss where to go on our date."

"Wait… date?!" I grinned as she blushed before catching up with the two geniuses and speedster. I stayed silent as Cisco and Wells constantly bickered.

"Is it always like this with those two?" Barry turned to me.

"Uh… yeah. You kinda get used to it," he said.

"God. Hopefully we find the source of Dark Matter soon. I'm about to shock those two to hell."

"This is actually how they get along."

"This is them getting along? I'd hate to see them arguing." We came to a street corner and I looked around. "This is the place? It's just an ordinary street block."

"How could Dark Matter just appear in the middle of nowhere," asked Cisco.

"Wait," said Barry as he looked around. "Wait I know this place. I came out of the Speed Force right here." I looked at him.

"I thought you exited in Ivy City."

"That's where I ran to. But I came out here."

"So you exited the Speed Force," said Wells. "Who knows how many people you exposed to Dark Matter when you did." I watched as a bus drove past us and groaned.

"Well, this shit just keeps getting better and better. We've potentially got a bus load of people suddenly with Metahuman powers."

An hour later, we were back in the lab and I was pacing in the Accelerator. It felt like Kessler was pulling strings all over again. While they were focusing on getting Becky behind bars, my mind focused on the series of events that led to this point. A robot samurai threatens the city's destruction unless he fights the Flash, leading the team to bring him out of the Speed Force. At the same time, a bus of people is exposed to Dark Matter and potentially turned into Metahumans. A memory of the Blast raced through my head and I growled before lobbing a Cluster Grenade in anger and let it explode. This felt like a manipulation. Someone with knowledge of upcoming events setting things up for some sort of scheme. It felt exactly like Empire City all over again. Like someone was pulling the strings. I didn't know I was being manipulated back then. Looking back, it was obvious as hell.

I was asked to deliver a package by name. Kessler watched me carefully to ensure I didn't venture from the path he wanted. He was there right as the Blast occurred but managed to get away before he could be affected by it. He framed me for terrorism, made me a monster in the eyes of the public and murdered Trish, the love of my life, of our life, just so I would have the resolve I would need to fight the Beast. Everything that happened in Empire City was part of his overall plan. And now it was happening again, only I was looking at it from the outside in instead of being the subject of manipulations. Someone wanted Barry out of the Speed Force to make new Metas, but why? Whatever the reason, I'd already thrown a monkey wrench in their plans with the death of Deacon. But there was no way to assume that without further proof, or that they wouldn't have contingencies.

I growled and drained energy from a nearby power box and saw it was colored red. I blinked as I looked at it and thought for a moment. I went over to the others and saw them moping. "You're not cursed. You all should be cursed at," said Wells as he tinkered with something.

"Guys," I said. "There's time for moping later. "Wells. If I'm charged up with negative energy, would that counteract her power?"

"Negative energy?"

"I can control electrical energy. It's linked to my emotions. If I focus my anger, my lightning has a negative charge rather than a positive one. If her power revolves around the swapping of positive and negative particles to benefit herself, would me keeping a negative charge negate her luck effect on me?"

"You're asking me if a negatively charged electron would negate the power of a quantum particle?"

"You're the genius. I'm just a guy who was six credits short of graduating college when I was kicked out. I majored in engineering, not whatever the hell it is you do." Wells sighed before looking at me.

"In theory it should negate the effects to a point. But you need the right amount of negative energy."

"Just means I gotta keep it going." I surged my electricity and covered myself in red lightning. I winced as they started hurting me.

"Have you done this before," asked Caitlin.

"Not for longer than it takes to drain someone. God. Sustaining it is difficult."

"How long can you sustain that," asked Cisco.

"No idea. Never switched to red for long. Just when I needed a drain in a blackout, and I was in a fight." I dropped the lightning and shook my head as I groaned. "Damn."

"Maybe save that for when you confront Becky," said Caitlin.

"Yeah, I hear you. That hurt."

"Weren't you a vampire and using red lightning then," asked Cisco.

"Wait, what," asked Barry. "You were a vampire?"

"Blood Conduit. Oldest Conduits on my Earth. Don't know how they had their powers activated without the Ray Sphere, but they could make other Conduits like them. Worst twelve hours of my life. Zeke thought it was like a virus. Only once the host was destroyed…"

"No more invading cells," said Cisco. "Ok, remind me to come up with something to counter vampires in the future. Anyways, why do you think it didn't hurt then?"

"I don't know if it hurt or not. I don't remember a thing from Pyre Night."

"Maybe being a Blood Conduit dulls your sense of pain, preventing you from getting hurt by it," said Wells.

"Well I'm not looking to test it out any time soon. Do we know where she's at right now?"

"She's at Jitters," said Caitlin. "She tweeted from there a few minutes ago."

* * *

"What the hell does tweeted mean?"

A few minutes later, me and Barry, in his civilian clothes, arrived at the café. I looked at him as he nodded to a girl sitting alone. "Who's doing the talking? Me or you?"

"I'll talk with her," said Barry. "Your face has been on the news recently after the incident with Kilgore and she may recognize you."

"Come on. People didn't recognize me on the way in."

"Just… stay back and if I can't talk her down, follow her."

"Alright. I'll hang out by the entrance then." I ordered a basic coffee and sat in a chair by the front entrance at Becky's back. I looked around and started thinking on how things could go wrong. To me, Becky's power seemed to work like a Rube Goldberg machine, causing a domino effect of events that lead to her good luck. Pluck the right domino, and it all falls apart.

"Stupid machine," muttered the barista as their latte machine started acting up. I walked over.

"Excuse me," I said. "I know some engineering tricks. Mind if I take a look?" She looked at me and gasped.

"You're the Megawatt!"

"Mega-what?"

"The meta from the news who helped that cop!"

"Could you please keep it down? Can't work if people are hounding me."

"Oh, uh… sorry." I gestured to the machine as I ignored Becky's eyes on me.

"You mind?"

"Uh… go ahead, but we have someone who works on this thing for us."

"Consider this a good deed." I started tinkering with the machine, using its latent electricity to heal whatever burns I got. I saw Becky start leaving for the exit and zapped it with red lightning, magnetically locking the doors in place. She exclaimed as they shocked her, and I finished working on the machine. "There, that should do it. Now, if you'll excuse me." I walked over to the doors and leaned on them as she tried to open them. "What's the hurry?" She glared at me.

"Excuse me, I have somewhere to be," she said.

"What? Got another bank to rob?" She glanced at me and I pointed to the bench beside us, arms sparking with red lightning. "Sit. Down." I waved Barry over and we boxed her in to prevent her from running. "Now then, ma'am, we need to take you in. You know that, right?"

"Just when my luck was finally looking up…"

"Listen. Your luck was doing more than going up, you weren't just robbing banks, you were robbing good luck. Keep this up and you're bound to end up killing someone on accident. How would you feel then?"

"…Pretty shitty… I just… I wanted things to be great for me for once! You don't know what it's like being jinxed!"

"Maybe we don't. But you can't say that justifies putting others in danger," said Barry.

"Now," I continued. "You've got two options, Becky. "One, use your power to try and get out of this the dirty way and potentially threaten the lives of everyone including yourself, because luck always runs out eventually, or you can let us call Barry's friends at the CCPD, come in quietly and return the money, and you can get a reduced sentence as well as hopefully some community service rather than federal prison. Or take option 3 and…" I held up my hand and sparked red lightning between my fingers."

"Cole." Becky stared at my hand and sighed. She held up her arms and Barry placed the Meta-cuffs on her before standing up and making the call to Joe. I turned to her as she sighed and sipped from her latte that she placed on the table when I forced her to sit down.

"There's one thing I gotta do first before the police arrive, Becky."

"What?"

"Just… sit still." I placed my finger on her temple and Pulsed, allowing flashes of her memory course through my mind.

* * *

_Oh, thank god! I thought I was gonna have to wait another hour! Stupid heel. Oh, compose yourself, Becky, there's people here and you're dressed like a hooker with a broken heel._

_Whoa! What was that just now?! Was that the Flash?! Is he back?!_

_*gasp* Holy crap! A hundred bucks! Oh, universe! Thank you!"_

* * *

I shook my head as she stared at me. "Y-you just…"

"Saw your memories, yeah. Look, every dog has their day, alright? Sometimes you need to find the good in the bad. I know it's shitty advice, but I know what I'm talking about. Life gives you a bad hand. But…" I held up my hands and sparked normal blue lightning. "You take your bad hand and roll with it. See this? Kind of a double-edged sword. Its got ups and downs. It takes a lot to make sure I don't seriously hurt or kill anyone. Moderation is key. Keep that in mind, Becky."

"What was your name?"

"Cole MacGrath. Though, I guess people are calling me Megawatt."

"I'll try and find some moderation, Cole." I nodded before escorting her to the police cruiser that pulled up a few minutes later. Barry turned to me as the cruiser drove off.

"Did you find out anything?"

"Bus 405. There were twelve passengers and the driver. Let's get back to the lab, I think I can pass these memories to you to draw them out."

"Alright." Barry grabbed my shoulder when no one was looking and we arrived at the lab. I put my finger to his temple and sent him the memories. Barry worked fast and started drawing as I turned to Caitlin.

"Is Wally back from Earth-2?"

"Wally was on Earth-2?"

"Was I seriously the only one who noticed? He went to talk with Jesse. Had to hear what happened in person not from a cube or from her father."

"I guess everyone was too caught up in what was going on to notice. Joe's house is falling apart, Barry and Iris are in couple's counseling and were having trouble with landing a venue, Cisco was in the doghouse with Gypsy…"

"And let me guess, Amunet came calling for you?" Caitlin stayed silent for a moment before changing the subject.

"Hey, did you have any bad luck today?"

"Other than getting side barred by a big rig? Not really."

"MacGrath," said Wells from the computer. "Come here."

"Then again, it may just change." I walked over to the computer as Barry set the drawings of the riders of bus 405 on the clear board. "Let me get a scan of you."

"Yeah. The faster I find my Earth, the better."

"Ok," said Barry. "Thanks to Cole we have an image of each of the Metas of Bus 405." I looked at each of them and nodded when they matched up with the memories from Becky. "And… me and Joe know one of them."

"Which one?" He pointed to a drawing he placed on the bottom right of the board.

"His name is Ralph Dibny. He was a dirty cop. Nowadays he's a private investigator."

"Dirty cop?"

"…Let's not go into it right now."

"MacGrath," said Wells. "You are from another Earth, right?"

"Uh… pretty sure, why?"

"Because according to your vibrational frequency…" He turned a tablet towards me and showed a a graph with two lines showing identical motions. "You're from this Earth. Not a different one."


	4. Complications and Alternate Worlds

**(Cole's POV)**

"What the hell do you mean I'm from this Earth," I asked.

"I mean exactly that. Your vibrational frequency states that this Earth, Earth-1, is your Earth," said Wells.

"That's not true, asshole! If I were from this Earth, I'd fucking know it! Cisco, I think there is something wrong with your machine because it doesn't fucking work!"

"The machine is fine, it's you I'm not so sure about."

"You want to check my fucking mind, asshole?! Here!" I pressed my palm to his head and sent him every single one of my memories since the Blast, every bullet, every bomb, every punch, shrapnel, fall, rock and jolt from contact with water. I showed him all of it and when I was done, we were both on the floor, pain coursing through our heads from the exchange. At the same time I sent him my memories, I saw his. Wells' ego had caused a rift with his daughter. While she was busy being a hero to the people of his Central City, he'd formed a team to help her. A team he controlled and bossed around until Jesse had enough. She kicked him out, and Wells had nowhere else to go.

"Are you ok," exclaimed Caitlin as she checked on me while Barry and Cisco checked on Wells.

"Do you think anyone could've fabricated any of those memories, Wells?" I stood up and looked at him.

"It's possible," he said as he glared at me. He thought for a moment. "But the emotions, not so much. That's what a lot of telepaths fail to do is make the emotions that color the memories strong. So this gives me doubt." Wells stood up. "And I agree with you."

"On what?"

"Someone orchestrated all of this. After seeing what Kessler put you though, I think there's someone setting up something else."

"What is he talking about," asked Barry.

"Someone wanted the new Metas created," I said. "It's like chess. Cause effect. Move, countermove. The board was set up and someone made the first move to force Barry to come back, creating those Metas. You guys played into their hand without even knowing you were playing the same game. With what I went through in Empire City, the pieces were easier for me to see now that more were revealed. I said it's like chess, it's more like Stratego. More pieces, different rules, same objective. Traps could be anywhere, and your strongest pieces remain hidden. We need to find these Metas soon. Starting with the one we know. Barry, is there a way we can talk with Dibny?"

"He has an office downtown. Me and Joe can go talk with him. In the meantime, Cisco, see if you and Wells can figure out why Cole registers as being from this Earth."

"I'm on it, after I go out with Gypsy. I've put this off long enough and it's still One-One-One Day. Whatever the hell that is."

"It's like their New Years," said Wells. "Mixed with Valentine's Day."

"That would be important." Cisco left to open a Breach and I sighed before sitting in a chair.

"MacGrath. Let me see your cattle prod." I handed him the Amp and looked at the screen again. Wells looked like he wanted to say something but kept his mouth shut and walked away. Caitlin looked at me.

"Are you ok," she asked. I sighed and shook my head.

"Not really. I don't know what's going on, but I need to find a way home. Zeke, my parents, my brother, I need to know if they're fine."

"Why don't you ever talk about your family," asked Barry.

"We had a falling out before I was kicked out of college. They wanted me to live my life their way and I rebelled. Trish and Zeke were pretty much the only ones who accepted me for who I was. After Trish died, it was just Zeke and that was strained after his stunt with the Ray Sphere. Now… I just want to know if they're all fine. I want to know that me activating the RFI wasn't in vain, that I actually did the right thing. It was a question of faith and facts. I had an impossible choice in front of me and…" I sighed and looked to the ceiling. "I need to know I made the right one and didn't damn my world to death."

"You did the right thing."

"Did I?!" I stood up and glared at him. "Did I really?! When I first activated the RFI, it was killing us! But I didn't know if Zeke was getting any better! The Plague was ravaging the east coast, and I had no indication if the RFI could stop it! I had two choices. Set off the RFI or don't. Help the Beast, or don't. If I had helped the Beast…"

"You would've killed millions of people."

"They could already be dead along with the Conduits!" My arms sparked up with red lightning and I ignored the pain. "John's plan worked. Awakening the Conduits and allowing humanity to go on further despite the Plague because we were immune. Wolfe's plan had so many holes, I didn't know if it would work!"

"So what, you would've just thrown all those lives away?!"

"To save humanity, yes! Unlike what a lot of people thought on my Earth, I wasn't a hero! I'm not like you! I can't put everything on faith alone! I had a choice! Conduits or humanity! Either way meant survival or extinction!"

"And you chose to put your faith in Wolfe," said Caitlin. "You have to live with that and have faith that you made the right choice."

"It's easy to say and harder to do. You've only had to worry about saving your city for the most part and you didn't need to make a choice that would effect, the entire world. I had to make that choice. And I don't even know if it was the right thing to do. I don't know if I picked destruction over survival. I need to get home."

"And we'll get you home. I promise." I looked at her and sighed.

"Thanks. But a promise won't make me feel better." I left the lab and started walking away. Wells' revelation was jarring. I needed either a drink or something to help me vent. Whichever I found first. I traveled using Induction Grind and started getting more familiar with the city. Ignoring the looks of awe and people recording me on their phones. I just needed to block everything out. A shout of fear brought my attention to a dark alley. Always with the alleys with these guys. I jumped off the wires and used my Static Thrusters to hover to a building nearby. I grabbed onto a ledge and watched as a group of men were harassing a couple, the man on the ground, bleeding from a wound to the head. I hopped down and landed beside one before clearing my throat. "Excuse me, gentlemen." The men turned to me and glared. "Couldn't help but notice you're playing a bit rough. Might want to tone it down a bit."

"Fuck off, Baldy," said the largest of the group. Easily 7 feet in height and built like a truck.

"Now, we can see this done the easy way…" I sparked up my hand, still coursing with red lightning with my anger still potent. "Or I can shock you to hell."

"Watch out, man," said one of the guys. "He's a Meta."

"Like I fucking care," said the big guy. He took a punch at me and I rolled to the side before throwing him into the air with a Graviton Blast. I hit him with a Magnum Bolt before turning to the others. He dropped behind me and I grinned. Two ran off, leaving five to charge at me and try hitting me. I blocked one punch with an arm and shocked him before zapping the knees of the second. Thug three pulled out a gun and shot at me, the gunshots echoing in the air. I drained a nearby light and grinned as he knew he was out of ammo. I gave him a head shock before punching out two of his buddies. The big guy got behind me and put me in a full nelson, attempting to hold me down. I shook my head and surged. He cried out as he had a few thousand volts coursing through him, and I dropped an Alpha Grenade at the feet of the last two who were now running. They shouted as it exploded and knocked them off their feet. I hurried and put all five of them into Arc Restraints before walking back to the couple.

"You ok," I asked. The man nodded as his forehead bled. "Hold still." I charged up my hands before giving him a Pulse Heal. His wife helped him into his wheelchair, and I called Joe to get a squad car to the alley we were in with the woman telling me where it was.

"Thank you," said the man.

"Yeah. In all honesty, I needed to vent. These guys just had the unfortunate luck to be nearby."

"What's your name?"

"Cole." I shook his hand.

"Clifford."

"What were you guys doing down here, anyways?"

"Me and Clifford were out on a stroll," said the woman. "Me and my husband don't really get a chance to go out all that often."

"So you went down a dark alley? To each his own, I guess."

"How can we thank you?"

"No need. You guys just go on your day. I gotta stay behind and reabsorb those restraints when the police arrive."

"In that case, we should stay as well."

"Wouldn't want to keep you."

"And we wouldn't want you to be arrested for assault without our statement," said Clifford.

"Yeah, hadn't thought about that. Thanks."

"Consider it a debt paid in full." I leaned against a wall and waited as I passed a current between my hands. Zeke told me this would be a good way to help focus my control, for the most part, it's worked out alright.

"That's an interesting power you have," said Clifford's wife.

"Wouldn't say it's interesting. Just handy. Never need a battery again."

"I can imagine," said Clifford. "Oh, do excuse my manners. This is my wife, Marlize. We're professors at Central City University."

"Clifford teaches history," said Marlize. "And I teach physics." I shook her hand just as the cruiser pulled up. We told the officer, one of the ones who witnessed the Deacon incident, what had happened and I was asked to get in the cruiser to help with the report at the station.

"All the same, officer, it's better if I ride on top. I'm like a magnet and my powers aren't exactly great for being cooped up." The officer sighed before calling it in as another cruiser arrived to carry the last two thugs after I helped the first three into the first car.

"Man," said one of the officers. "I wish those restraints were standard equipment. Doesn't look like anyone could break out of those."

"Another Metahuman might," said his partner. "Those freaks seem to be able to do anything." I shook my head as I hopped onto the squad car and drained a nearby power pole before nodding to Clifford and Marlize as we rode off. When we arrived at the police precinct, one of the thugs tried bolting. I used an Ice Launch to get ahead of him and clotheslined him to the ground before pinning him as one of the cops raced after us.

"Thanks."

"No problem," I said as I handed the guy off. "This kind of thing happens."

"Not normally." The thugs were brought to the department and I surged to find a nearby power box when I felt a miniscule source of energy on my wrist. I looked at my wrist and frowned as I saw some kind of insect looking thing hanging off of me.

"The hell?" I zapped it off and stomped on it when it landed before walking into the building. After I finished giving my statement, the captain, David Singh, walked over to me.

"Mr. MacGrath," he said. "Can you come into my office, please?"

"Why do I feel like I'm being called into a principal's office when I feel that?" Cole followed the captain and sat down when Singh gestured for him to. "How can I help you?"

"That's twice you've brought someone into my precinct, Mr. MacGrath. Three times if you consider when my CSI, Barry Allen, asked for your help in apprehending Rebecca Sharpe earlier today."

"Just doing my civic duty. I saw someone in trouble, I jumped to help them."

"Not many people would do that out of the goodness of their hearts."

"Maybe more people need to. Why am I here? I doubt it's because I'm simply getting a pat on the back and a good job."

"I'll make this quick. Your abilities are powerful, you seem to be a good person, and you don't wear a mask when you help people."

"Not really much of a reason to do so."

"And why is that?"

"Don't really have anyone people would target to get to me. Flash, Vibe, they have families and they fight bad people who have powers and hold grudges."

"I'm aware. I'm sure it comes as no surprise but there are a few officers who do not have a strong opinion for Metahumans."

"Let me guess, the whole masked vigilante thing started by the Arrow?"

"And the fact that these supposed superheroes are following his example." He handed me a pamphlet and I saw it was for the police academy.

"I want to change that. And you? A Metahuman who helps people and doesn't wear a mask? You're just the person to do that." I chuckled as I placed the pamphlet on the desk.

"So I'd be a PR stunt for the CCPD?"

"You'd be a valuable asset to the Central City Police Department. Powers that not only allow you to apprehend criminals but also heal the other people around you? Any law enforcement agency would do anything to hire you."

"I'd be an official police officer?"

"Provided you go through the training and assessments for the academy. With you an official officer of the CCPD, we can not only get a positive outlook for Metas, we also have someone who can assist against violent Metas and help protect our officers in the event of a major firefight or any other dangerous circumstances."

"I never really considered being a cop before."

"Well, here's hoping that changes. I hope you will give this some thought, Cole. We could really use you around here."

"I'll think about it."

"Thank you, Cole." I took the pamphlet and made my way out of the building before getting pulled to an alleyway before coming to a sudden stop as Wally lost his speed.

"You forgot about that, didn't you?"

"Kinda did, yeah. Actually, I was hoping I could build up a resistance to it."

"Kid, if Barry is getting drained by me, even with the resistance he built against that guy, Blackout, you won't either unless you get a better control than him. What's up?"

"I… I need to get away."

"Away from what?"

"The team. I just got back from Earth-2 and Caitlin told me you were the only one who noticed I left. I mean, I get it, they were dealing with their own problems, but it still hurts."

"Where you gonna go?"

"I don't know. Maybe with the Legends?"

"Those are the time guys, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'd go along with you, but if they're gonna be going to the past more often than the future, I won't be of much help, other than being a battery if the ship loses power." Cole clapped him on the back. "Anything else you need to talk about before you pack and say goodbye to your folks?"

"Oh, yeah. Actually, I was gonna ask you to tag along, if only for a little while."

"Can't help you there, man. Sorry."

"It's cool." My phone rang and I answered it after a second.

"Yeah, who's this?"

"_MacGrath,"_ said Wells on the other end. _"Get back here. I have a theory, but I need you here to test it and with Ramon with his Earth-19 girlfriend, I need to take time from figuring out what this overall plan is to help you alone, now hurry back."_ He hung up and I turned to Wally.

"He's a real charmer, isn't he?"

"He grows on you."

"Does he?"

"…I'll let you know when that happens." I chuckled and let him speed me to the lab before he sped off to his home.

"Where's Wally going," asked Caitlin.

"Packing. Think he needs to find himself. Where's…?"

"MacGrath," said Wells behind me. I turned around and spotted him carrying the Amp. "Who made this?"

"The Amp? That would be my brother in all but blood and name, Zeke Dunbar. Why?"

"Despite its crude design, it's quite effective at channeling your energy."

"That was the point. Nothing flashy, nothing too complex, just good old grit, sweat, blood, and way too much free time sailing from Empire City to New Marais. What was your theory?"

"First, I need you to take your Amp and then, I'm sending you to another Earth."

"Which one?"

"And for that matter," said Caitlin. "Why?"

"It's to test my theory." Wells handed me the Amp and two devices the size of my palm. "These will let you travel between worlds, creating Breaches for you to jump through. I've programmed them to open a Breach between this Earth and Earth-38. You're going to go there, spend some time there and then come back."

"Mind giving me a clear answer as to why?"

"No."

"Helluva guy." I turned to Caitlin as he walked away.

"He means well, mostly," she said.

"How do I use these?"

"Oh, it's simple. You press the button and then toss it in front of you in the Breach zone."

"What can I expect from Earth-38? Other than aliens?"

"Just about that and the occasional Metahuman."

"Oh great, so not hopelessly outclassed. Sorry we gotta put our date on hold." Caitlin cleared her throat.

"I… don't remember agreeing to that."

"But you didn't object to it either." I grinned as I put the Amp in its place in my pack. "So what's the answer?" Caitlin blushed lightly before turning to me.

"Can you give us some time to think about it?"

"You and Frost. Need to converse with her on this?"

"Something like that."

"At least you're giving my suggestion a shot. Think you'll have an answer when I get back?"

"Maybe."

"Now MacGrath," shouted Wells. I rolled my eyes before activating the device and hopping through the Breach it created.

I appeared several hundred feet in the air and saw a city below me. "What the?!" I activated my Thrusters to catch myself slightly before looking around and shaking my head. "He could've warned me it would take near orbit, asshole." I let myself drop and started a Thunder Drop to the city below. I came out of it before hovering and landing on top of a stadium without breaking anything or hurting anyone. "Ok, what's there to do around here?" Almost immediately, I felt multiple devices on different frequencies from the lights in the stadium and knew, from experience in New Marais exactly what they were. "Bombs? Ah hell!" I dropped down to the ground and ran into the stadium, pulsing to get exact locations of the bombs in the stadium. When I arrived at the first, I found a few people standing in front of it. They turned to me and I sparked my hands with red lightning. "Come on, move!"

"You won't get in the way of Rao's work."

"Who the hell is Rao?" I noticed the timer and shook my head. "Whatever." I calmed my emotions, shifting from red to blue and hit them with a Graviton Blast before running to the bomb. I drained its electrical components and pulled out the ignition switch before pocketing it and ran for the next bomb, hearing one of the people I just blasted yell out that I was defusing the bombs. I kept running and climbed into the rafters above to avoid detection before making my way to the next bomb.

"Stop him," shouted a man below. I hopped down at the next bomb and pulled out the Amp before hitting away one of the bombers as they ran for me. I placed them in Arc Restraints before limiting my Blasts to stop them from killing people, they had a bit of a fanatical look in their eyes and their talk of Rao made this seem like it was a cult, no need to hurt them too much. I repeated the process of defusing the second bomb and created a Frost Wall when I heard people shooting at me. I treated it like my old Polarity Wall and transformed the bullets into energy with some difficulty as the memory of the power didn't fully translate to the Frost Wall despite the similar functions. I took off and navigated to the next bomb, bullets grazing by my limbs and I ignored the pain. First bomb had a timer of 20 minutes. Needed to be fast, felt a lot more bombs now that I was level with them.

I didn't even slow down to rest or drain some equipment nearby to recharge from the constant blasts. Somewhere down the line, my lightning shifted color again, not to red, but to a green hue. I didn't know what changed them at the time, but I didn't care. Bomb after bomb, I kept defusing them again and again, it got to the point where I couldn't even pocket the switches anymore and I had to smash them with the Amp. I managed to get to the last bomb and spotted a woman in a red and blue outfit standing in front of a man with a detonator in hand. He turned to me and the woman looked at me in turn, she looked weak, her veins glowing green for whatever reason and a look of surprise in her eyes.

I reached into my pockets and dropped the switches to the ground before stomping on them and pulling out the Amp. "Buddy, I just spent the last fifteen minutes. Defusing every last bomb but one in this goddamn building. You've got three seconds to surrender or…" I sparked my arms, giving me an eerie green glow as I walked to him. "I'm gonna smite you like Zeus, Rao be damned." Time slowed down for me as he turned to me, ready to press the button and I zapped his head before using a Lightning Tether to pull the last bomb to me and drain it completely before I removed the last switch and dropped to a knee, panting as I groaned. "Damn. That was a lot more stressful than I expected it to be…" I spotted the cultists starting to surround me and stood up as I drained a nearby speaker, my lightning still green in color. "You can either back off…" I sparked up, balls of green lightning forming a couple of inches above my hand. "Or I'm gonna stop you, here and now!"

The people stared at me, more than likely gauging their chances of taking me on when the woman stood up and looked at them. "Please," she said. "Just go home. I'm not infallible. I'm not Rao's Hand. Please, stop this." I kept my eyes on all of them, making sure none of them tried anything. Then after a minute, they looked downtrodden, and one by one, they left. I stopped sparking and Restrained the man I shocked before I put the Amp back in place before dropping to a knee. "Hey," said the woman. "Are you ok?"

"I don't know what was in those bombs, but it did something to me. I need a large source of electricity to drain, hopefully that'll get me back to normal." The woman nodded and grabbed me before we started flying at high speeds. I shook my head as we landed and drained a nearby generator until my lightning shifted back to blue. I sighed in relief before sitting down.

"Damn. That was tough."

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah. Just exhausted. Whatever was in those bombs changed the electricity I drained from them. Don't know what it was."

"That was kryptonite."

"Kryptonite?"

"It's a… uh…" I looked at her closely now and spotted the s on her chest.

"Supergirl, right?"

"I'm surprised you didn't immediately know that."

"Not exactly from around here. Uh… It's sort of a… Barry Allen situation."

"You know Barry?"

"Just came from his Earth."

"That would explain why you didn't know me."

"Didn't know him either. I'm not from Earth-1, despite what that hack Wells might think."

"Which Earth are you from?"

"That's the thing. I don't know. And Wells isn't much help. He sent me here to test a theory of his."

"What theory?"

"Wouldn't say."

"Why not?"

"Cause he's an asshole, that's why." I stood up and held my hand out to her. "Cole MacGrath."

"Kara Zor-El. But you can just call me Kara."

"Nice to meet ya. What was all that at the stadium?"

"That's a long story."

"I'm supposed to stay here for a bit, so I got time."

"Well, let's continue this chat somewhere less public." We lifted off the ground again and within moments, we were in what looked like a government building. I shook my head before finding people aiming guns at me. I sparked up my hands on instinct before Kara stood between us. "He's a friend! Stand down!" They lowered their weapons before looking at me cautiously as I relaxed.

"Now then. Can we talk?"

* * *

**(Devoe's Hidden Lair)**

Clifford Devoe stared at the feed as it only registered a brief moment of energy expenditure from the Electrokinetic, Cole, and then the feed cut off before they could register exactly what it was. "How did you know he'd be there," asked Marlize as they shut off their monitor.

"Harrison Wells is an extremely egotistical man. Chances were good that this Cole would butt heads with him and go to find something to vent afterwards. It was simply a matter of determining which route would be the route he may take. Timing his arrival to the alley was simple given there is footage of him traveling along the power lines in the city. I was able to make an accurate prediction of where and when we would meet him."

"Do we know how he found the electrical analyzer?"

"Given his electrical capabilities, it's not too far of a stretch to determine he somehow felt the device we left on him."

"If only he had found it later."

"It's of little consequence. We'll learn more about this Megawatt as our plans progress. For now, we keep working to the Enlightenment."

* * *

**(Earth-X)**

A blast of lightning knocked a soldier off of their feet before another shocked him and shut down his nervous system. A man with a mechanical arm frowned before healing his friend. "They're coming," he shouted. "Get out of here!"

"I'm not about to leave you, Cole!"

"Dammit, Zeke! Get the package out of here! _She's_ coming! I can hold her! Get going!" Zeke hesitated before nodding, taking a package from Cole's pack and turning to his brother in all but blood.

"Half as long…"

"Twice as bright. Go." Cole faced the direction of the tunnel they had just run down and sparked up, his arms sparking with orange lightning. "Alright, ET. Molon labe." Cole formed Gigawatt Blades as the energy in the tunnel was shut off. A torrent of Arc Lightning shot down the tunnel as a red and black blur shot towards him, evading the electricity as red lightning sparked behind it. Cole dilated time like he would for a Precision Strike and swung at the blur, slightly making out a human figure in a black onesie. The Gigawatt Blades connected and Blitzkrieg, the Speedster of Earth-X collapsed, dead. "Shit, shit, shit." Cole tried for another attempt at Gigawatt Blades and shouted as his metal arm was sheered off by a yellow blur with red lightning trailing behind it. Further down the tunnel, two figures walked slowly towards him while the yellow blur pinned him to the wall.

"I checked his pack," said the man in yellow, voice distorted from his speed. "It wasn't there."

"Where's the device," asked a masked woman wearing a black suit and red cape.

"Krypton, bitch. It was blown to pieces along with the rest of your fucking race!" The man beside her shot an arrow into his leg and he shouted in pain.

"Now, now, Kessler," said the man. "You should just make it easy for yourself. Tell us where the device it."

"Empire City. A long ways away from here." Another arrow to the leg and Cole grunted, getting used to the pain.

"Weren't there two people who infiltrated the facility," asked the woman. Cole glanced at her.

"The fat man," said the man in yellow. "Kessler must've let him go on ahead."

"Then go after him, Thawne," ordered the archer.

"No," shouted Cole as he started Discharging the energy built up in his body, stunning all three in place while he continued to Discharge before rushing the woman and latching his hand onto her head. "Take this!" The woman tanked the millions of volts entering her system before Cole pulled one last trick and ejected a blade from his mechanical stump, a blade made of a golden crystal, and attempted to stab it into her heart. Thawne overcame the effects of Cole's Discharge and vibrated his hand before stabbing it into the chest of the Prime Conduit. Cole tried his damndest to get the blade into the woman and only ended up nicking her before he shouted out and his body went limp, orange lightning arcing from the remnants of his lifeless body as the archer caught the woman and looked at Thawne.

"Find his friend and return the device." Thawne said nothing and sped off down the tunnel, growling when he didn't come across anything. He sped up and down the tunnel three times before returning to the other two.

"He's not in the tunnel."

"What do you mean he's not in the tunnel?!"

"I mean he somehow got away!"

"Well find him! We need that device!"

"We still have the backup plan. We can resort to that."

"The device is a sure thing. Find it." The archer carried the woman back up the tunnel as Thawne went the opposite route, looking for Zeke once more. Zeke Jedediah Dunbar waited for ten minutes before dropping his cloak and kneeling beside the corpse of his fallen brother. He took off his shades and wept for a single moment, the last remnant of his old life now gone. He pulled Cole's body up on his back before turning his cloaking device back on and making his way back down the tunnel, Cole on his back and Ray Sphere in hand.


	5. Ace

**(Author's Notes)**

**To explain what was going on at the end of the last chapter, that version of Cole developed his powers a lot differently than the one the story is focused on. Discharge is an ability that sends every last ounce of energy out in an expansive area. Because it is a direct current, it's not enough to kill in a wide spread move. Earth-X's Cole's plan was to stun the New Reichmen's movements long enough for him to get close to Overgirl, decrease the range of the Discharge and make it an alternating current and shut off her abilities long enough to be killed by the electricity by stabbing her with the golden kryptonite. He wouldn't stand a chance against all three alone and was hoping to at least take out the biggest threat to the Resistance. Now with that explanation out of the way, feel free to read and review. Oh, and do keep in mind, we're getting more and more into AU territory here. You'll see what I mean.**

* * *

**(Cole's POV)**

I stood in front of Kara and her friends at the secret government agency meant to stop harmful aliens, the D.E.O., Winn and J'onn J'onzz, and her sister Alex an agent in the agency. I spent the last few hours explaining my predicament and how Wells was apparently trying to help me. "So," said J'onn, the Martian posing as a human. "You're trying to find your home."

"Yeah."

"I imagine that must be worrying. More than imagine."

"Last of your kind, right?" J'onn nodded and I sighed.

"Guess we have that in common. The RFI, if it worked, would've killed all Conduits and Kessler, for whatever reason, spared me. For all I know, I'm the last Conduit."

"It's a difficult burden to bear. I know."

"We both do," said Kara. "Last of the Kryptonians along with my cousin."

"What I'm trying to figure out is why Wells sent you here," said Alex.

"You got me," I said. "No idea why he sent me." I passed a current between my hands out of boredom and to focus on something. Winn stared at me before thinking of something.

"Hey, Cole," he said.

"Yeah?"

"You absorbed electricity when you got here, didn't you?"

"Something I do on a normal basis, why?"

"Well, I was just thinking, after Barry first got here, he described each Earth as having its own vibrational frequency. Some are higher some are lower. And the frequency effects all matter in that universe, including energy." I stared at my hands.

"What's your point," asked Kara.

"Well, Cole absorbs energy which means he's also vibrating on that same frequency, isn't he?"

"Sonofabitch," I said. "Wells is testing that same theory."

"So the reason Cole registers as being from Earth-1," said Alex. "Is because he absorbed energy from there?"

"That's what I assume, anyways," said Winn. "If his anatomy is able to adapt to the type of electrical energy he absorbs, that would include any variations to that energy."

"Like when he absorbed the electricity in the bombs powered by Kryptonite," said Kara. "That explains the green glow!" I focused on the unusual feeling from those bombs and focused my energy. All at once, my lightning turned the same shade of green. Shifting over to this was as simple as adjusting the shape of my powers, like switching from my original bolts to a Pincer. As soon as I shifted, Kara started feeling ill. I shifted back to the normal color and she was back to normal.

"What just happened," asked Alex.

"I think I absorbed the natural energy that comes off of Kryptonite," I said. "I'm used to absorbing Ionic radiation from storms or even Ray Field Energy from knocked out militia, I guess my body adapted to the energy signature of the Kryptonite."

"Please don't ever do that again," said Kara.

"Sorry, I didn't know it would affect you like that."

"It's fine, just… never again." I nodded and stared at my hands before clenching them.

"I think I should head back now. I appeared in the air. Kara would you mind…"

"Sure. Do you remember where?"

"Above the stadium."

"That's not where Barry arrived from."

"Don't know what to tell you." Kara helped me back to the spot where I opened a Breach and we went through, arriving back at STAR Labs with the team waiting for us. I glared at Wells as I contemplated shocking him. "Did you know I'd arrive in the middle of the fucking air?"

"No," said Wells. "Normally they're level with the ground. And even if I did know, you can survive a fall like that."

"Asshole."

"Hey, Kara," said Barry.

"Oh," said Kara. "Hi, Barry! Hey, Iris!" I walked over to Wells who immediately scanned me.

"Hope your theory is right, Wells," I said.

"Figured it out?"

"Winn did," said Kara. I looked at the screen and saw that I now registered as being from Earth-38 rather than Earth-1.

"So that's why," I said.

"What," asked Barry.

"Cole's body adjusts to allow for the intake of new energy," said Wells. "My guess so that there's no trouble at the different vibrational frequency between him and the source of energy."

"My Powers evolved when exposed to intense levels of electricity and when I absorbed more Ray Field energy. After using one of the Blast Cores, I could absorb Ionic Energy. My body must've been altered then. I mean, now I've got Kryptonite lightning, so…"

"Wait," said Caitlin. "You what?"

"When I arrived, some cultists Kara had been dealing with had set up bombs in a stadium. I spent about 20 minutes deactivating all of them before restraining the head cultist for the police to collect after Kara called it in. After everything was said and done, my electricity turned green. Before we got back here, I was able to switch back to the normal lightning and found I could transition back to the green. When I did…"

"I started getting sick," said Kara. "Like when exposed to Kryptonite, a radioactive remnant of my planet, Krypton."

"Meaning Cole now has a lightning potentially fatal to you," said Wells.

"But I don't plan on attacking you anytime soon," I said. I turned to Wells. "Got any ideas on how to find my Earth? One that doesn't involve me draining my energy completely?"

"One. We'd need to find a third Earth for you to drain energy from, but aside from Earth-19, which has closed off all Breaches going in, and Earth-3 is too close to Earth-1 for this to work."

"You're going to try and triangulate my Earth using the energy from here, Earth-38, and one other Earth, aren't you?"

"Yes. If I can ascertain the difference in frequencies as they are in your body, I can triangulate your Earth by eliminating all subsequent energies reading in your body."

"So we just need another Earth to Breach to," said Barry. "Shouldn't be too hard."

"It wouldn't be if we didn't have only 52 Earth's to pick from, and nearly all of them have defenses against unsanctioned travel between Earth's in and out."

"So you're saying I'm stuck here until we can find another Earth I can absorb energy from for this to work? One beyond the first 52 that has the right level of technology for me to drain and doesn't have interdimensional safeguards. How long would that take," I asked.

"Can't say. Too many variables to predict."

"Dammit."

"Sorry Cole," said Caitlin as she moved to me and put her hand on my shoulder. I smiled to her before sighing.

"Might as well consider Singh's offer then."

"What offer," asked Barry.

"Singh wants me to join the police. Said he could use me in the ranks, both as good PR for a lot of the force and civilians who don't like Metas operating with masks, despite the reasoning its to protect their families, and to help limit casualties among the police if you don't turn up. Like if you find yourself sacrificing yourself for the city again and leaving your friends and the police to deal with Metas alone. With Wally leaving, you won't have a Speedster on hand to hide the fact that you're not here." I stared him down as he stopped himself from retaliating.

"That's unfair," said Iris.

"It's not meant out of malice. It's a standard fact. Barry is willing to give his life to protect all of you and every single life in this city. And the longer he keeps going at this, the more people are going to try and destroy or take over this city, or harm any of you, he's going to take the bullet every single time. If both he and Wally are gone, it's just Cisco and Cait to defend people from Metas, and people aren't willing to trust Killer Frost just yet after the whole Savitar thing you told me about. Them trusting Frost will take a lot of time and effort on both parts. The police need a Meta on their side in case something happens to either of them. I can take a hit and nearly instantly heal from gunshots. I can take on these Metas and stop them if any of you can't be reached."

"You're considering this," asked Cait.

"I am. I need to do this, since Empire City and New Marais, I can't just sit by and not help people. It's not who I am anymore. At least this way, any action I take would be in the name of the CCPD and allow me to move semi-freely while helping people. Plus, it'll help me pass time in a meaningful way while we think of an Earth to travel to for Wells to do his triangulation thing. I don't plan on just sitting around doing nothing. If I can help people, I'm going to."

"You know you have to limit yourself to just healing and rescuing people while in the academy, right," asked Barry.

"Kinda figured. Limit the number of times I potentially get arrested for vigilante activities. I don't exactly wear a mask out there."

"So, you're going to do this," asked Iris.

"Yeah. Might be nice."

"Well, I wish you good luck," said Barry. I nodded before turning to Kara.

"Thanks again for getting me here."

"I should be thanking you for your help with the bombs," said Kara. "I didn't know if Coville would've still detonated them."

"Coville was the asshole I restrained, right?"

"Yeah. He saw me when I first demonstrated my powers and somehow learned about Rao, an old god from Krypton."

"How did that happen," asked Iris.

"I don't know. I still need to figure that out."

"Need any help," asked Barry.

"No, we can handle it. I should get back."

"Can we expect you guys for the wedding?"

"Definitely. Just let us know when it is."

"You guys got a venue," asked Caitlin.

"Yes," said Iris. "Finally. We'll send you and Alex your invitations soon."

"Great." Kara waved and went back through the Breach after Cait pressed a button to open it and Joe arrived just as she left.

"Hey guys," said Joe, smiling from ear to ear.

"What's up," asked Iris. I spotted him holding a box of cigars and quirked an eyebrow as he offered one to Barry.

"Cecelia's pregnant," he said, grin as wide as ever. Wells left almost as soon as he said that, probably to avoid the celebration as the others congratulated him. I chuckled and clapped Joe on the back before going to Wells.

"How'd you think of it," I asked.

"Your Amp has trace amounts of your electricity still in it," he said, working on whatever it was he was tinkering with. "And while you have only used it once against the android upon your arrival, you still used it to drain energy from it to make sure it was deactivated. Couldn't do what I needed and try and find the vibrational frequency of your Earth. I then realized that your body could've been vibrating on this frequency by you simply draining energy while here."

"Guess I should apologize for the memory thing. I need to find out if what I picked was the right choice."

"It probably wasn't."

"Oh, that's helpful."

"You have no reason to believe the RFI could actually kill the Plague. Personally, I would've sided with John White, if only so life could live on in some capacity. You saw John's process worked. It may have costed people their lives to do so, but it worked. So why go against it?"

"I don't know. I guess… I guess because I hoped that Wolfe was right. Yes, what John showed me meant survival. But it also meant extinction, both methods did. It was an impossible choice I alone had to make. There were plenty of people smarter than me who knew the odds better than me, but I had to choose. Conduits or Humanity."

"What I've learned from working with Team Flash is sometimes you can't just think it through. Sometimes, there's not enough time. You need to trust your gut instinct. What was your gut telling you?"

"To put my faith in Wolfe. He helped build the Ray Sphere, he had years to study Ray Field energy and build the RFI to counter the Ray Sphere. He had to be right. He wouldn't have started helping us if it weren't the case."

"Then stick with that, MacGrath. Until then, let me see your Amp. I may have a way to improve it. Since I can't figure out what the mastermind of the Bus Metas is up to right now without any more clues, I need to find something to work on."

"You got it." I handed him the Amp and went back to the others.

* * *

**(1 Week Later)**

I Pulse Healed a few people who were injured after a car crash and grinned as I heard Cait laughing on her end of the coms. I helped a kid up to his feet and pressed my hand to the coms. "You hear him? He said his friend fell on his butt." Caitlin's laugh over the coms made the kid smile and start ignoring the pain he felt on his hand from pulling at the door which was overheated thanks to a nearby fire as he tried getting his mother out of the car. I healed him and his mother and the passenger of the out of control car before Making sure the fire was out with a well-aimed Ice Grenade. I smiled at them and gave him a high five. "Nice job, kid. You're a hero." He smiled at me before I used a Kinetic Pulse to move the cars out of the way of traffic and let the paramedics examine them as I read the memories of the driver of the out of control car. "He tried to stop the car at the light, but something went wrong. His car was working earlier but he hit a huge pothole before turning on this road, something must've messed with the brakes when that happened. Battery sparked up and ignited gas from the other car's leaking tank after the crash. Did what I could for the injuries."

"Thanks for the help, Megawatt," said the kid with smile. I chuckled and ruffled his hair.

"Name's Cole, Kid." I use a Lightning Tether to bring me to a powerline and Grind away.

"_Your antics are getting you a lot of fans,"_ said Cait on the coms.

"Still not something I'm used to. I mean, sure people thanked and tried to help me in both Empire City and New Marais, but still, it's definitely something I never expected to happen to me at all."

"_Well, when you get back to your Earth, you know what to look forward t… What the heck?!"_

"Cait?! What's wrong?!"

"_Um… you're gonna wanna see what Barry and Joe brought in just now. Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick!"_

"On my way." I made my way back to STAR Labs and landed at the entrance as Iris got out of her car.

"Hey, Cole," she said.

"Iris. How's the planning going?"

"It's going well. We'll be ready for the wedding in a few weeks."

"Good to hear. Hey, do you know what Joe and Barry brought in?"

"No. Was just getting in right now." We stepped into the lab and started going to the Control Room. "Besides, it can't be anything ba-AAAHHH!" We stopped as we looked down to see what looked like a stretched out human foot, its shoe on the ground beside it and it was wiggling. I followed the still connected leg to the med bay and spotted one of the bus passengers from my vision freaking out as Barry and Cisco tried restraining him, his limbs stretched out like taffy.

"Oh, that is sick."

"Not helping," shouted the man, Ralph Dibny, from what Barry told me. He was out of town a week ago and had just gotten back a day ago. Barry and Joe had gone to see him and see if he had Metahuman abilities. Lo and behold, he did.

"Stand back!" Barry and Cisco moved from Ralph as I sparked up my hands.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you gonna…" I placed my hands on his leg and shocked him. Ralph exclaimed in slight pain and shock and his body pulled itself in. Barry looked at me.

"What did you do," he asked.

"Electricity makes the muscles tense up, it's why people stop what they're doing when tazed or end up getting electrocuted when they grab a live cable. It's only a temporary fix, though."

"I'll make something to help," said Cait. I nodded and heard Ralph sneeze. I turned around and spotted his face was nearly off his head, stretched out to an ungodly sight. I chuckled as I heard Joe throw up behind me.

"Four years," said Joe. "Four years of this and I finally throw up." Ralph looked at me, pleadingly.

"Hold still," I said before I shocked him again.

"Thank you," he said before getting a good look at me. "You're Megawatt, right?!"

"Name's Cole. Ralph Dibny, right?"

"Yeah. I take it you heard of me. Got a girlfriend you want me to follow?"

"My last girlfriend is dead."

"Oh… sorry."

"Don't mention it. And no, they told me your name." I nodded to Barry and Joe.

"Oh." His look of disdain was obvious, and I looked at Barry.

"Ok. What the hell happened between you two? And don't skip any details. As long as he's here, you two can't be at each other's throats and if you fucking back talk…" I sparked my arms and glared at both of them. Ralph sweated slightly before grunting.

"He got me fired!"

"That was your own fault," shouted Barry. "You falsified evidence!"

"He was guilty, dammit!"

"Hold it," I shouted over the two of them, draining the lights to make them dim for emphasis. "Barry, explain. Ralph, relay your side of the story after Barry is done. Your yelling is giving me a goddamn headache." Ralph blanched again.

"You know, you're pretty scary."

"Shut up. Barry, talk." Barry went on to tell me that Ralph was once an exemplary cop. By the book and following the rules. Then there came a case where a woman was murdered. Her husband was the primary suspect, but there was no evidence linking him to the crime. Not until Ralph miraculously found a knife with the husband's prints on it and turned it into evidence. Barry was suspicious and outed Ralph for planting evidence. Not long after, Ralph was fired. Ralph looked down, sullen before his glare returned in full force and then some.

"He was guilty, Barry. You know it and I know it."

"You can't just bend the rules to make things go your way," said Barry.

"Don't be a hypocrite," I smacked him upside the head. "How many times have you had to bend the rules yourself, huh? Flash?"

"Cole!"

"Flash," asked Ralph as Cait walked over to him. "You're the Flash?!"

"Drink this," said Cait. Ralph looked at the vial before giving her a skeptical glance.

"It's got alcohol," I said, rolling my eyes. Ralph reminded me of Zeke, avoiding the hospital, overweight, bit of a smart ass. Just give him a few extra pounds, some sunglasses, and Elvis styled hair, they could be twins.

"Don't gotta tell me twice," he said as I shook my head as Cait looked at me.

"How did you know it had alcohol," she asked.

"I didn't. It's the only way I ever got Zeke to drink medicine back home." I watched as his still slightly stretched arm fixed itself and Ralph looked himself over.

"What did that do," he asked.

"It it'll restore your muscle's composition and allow you more control," said Cait. "Think of it like muscle memory."

"Muscle memory? How?"

"Just think of a body part and it should respond how you want it to." He lifted up his shirt and we got a good look at his gut before he turned it into a six pack and laughed in glee.

"I could be a Henson!"

"Easy there," I said. "It's still going to take some time for you to get the hang of your powers, man. Good thing you have us here to help with that. Unless you want to look like living snot again." I chuckled as Joe gagged slightly at the memory. "The sooner you master your powers, the sooner you no longer have to worry."

"And who exactly is going to help me?"

"Caitlin, Cisco, Barry, me and Wells."

"And that would be…"

"I don't think Wells is going to be of any help," said Caitlin. "He's still trying to figure out the major scheme. But Barry has the most experience with powers, he'll be able to help you out the most."

"Wha.." started Barry as he turned to her.

"Cole," said Joe. "Come with me. I want to check something."

"Sure." I smiled at Cait before we left, and Joe turned to me. "What did you want to check?"

"Right after we talked with Ralph, a couple of guys were hanging him upside down from the roof, that's how he…"

"Got literal spaghetti legs, got it. So we're going through his office and learning what cases he has and seeing who would want to kill him. Though, being a Private Dick means it could be anyone he dug up dirt on."

"Yeah, but there's only so many people who could hire thugs to threaten him."

"I hear ya. Hey, I got a question."

"This about you considering joining the police?"

"Yeah."

"I think you should. Lord knows it would give the boys some help during a Metahuman incident."

"That was Singh's thinking as well. Just in case Barry disappears again and someone needs to step up to help. You guys need a powerhouse in the department, one to help protect them as well as the people. I agree. There were multiple times I worked with the Police in New Marais and Empire City against the multiple Conduits in both of them."

"How many have you fought?"

"Hundreds when the Ice Freaks showed up. The longer they stuck around, the more they started to change."

"The Crushers and Titans, right?"

"That's what Zeke dubbed them, anyways." We made our way outside and I climbed onto a power pole by Joe's car.

"Is that any fun?"

"Yeah. And it's better than me making a dent in your car. Gotta pay for the ones in the cruiser I rode in on last week."

"Yeah, they don't build them sturdy anymore. Just follow my car, Cole."

"You got it." Joe started his car and I followed close behind. Joe called my phone and I answered. "So, what do you think Ralph got his hands in?"

"_Could be anything. Ralph's a good guy, but I think losing his job with the CCPD kind of hit him hard."_

"He tried to put a bad guy away."

"_By planting evidence."_

"Again, you guys are hypocrites, you've done equally shady things to take down Metahumans before."

"_I know we have."_

"Hopefully those two can straighten things out. Having another Meta on the team will help you guys when I get home."

"_Whenever that happens."_ Cole chuckled before jumping and using a Lightning Tether to bring him to the next powerline. _"How does that work?"_

"Static cling, Joe. Simplest way to explain how it works."

"_Thank you. See, why can't people just explain that the first time around?"_

"Eggheads, Joe. Simplest way for them is the scientific explanation the first time around. Average You's tend to forget they spend so many waking hours learning all of this crap it's imprinted in their minds." Joe chuckled.

"_Haven't heard that one before."_

"I'm sure." I hovered to the next powerline and suddenly stopped as I felt myself head into a powered down zone. "Hey, Joe. There's a power outage in the area."

"_Yeah, I could tell when your sparking stopped. Can also see one of the traffic cops directing ahead."_

"Know where a generator is?"

"_You're not gonna like it."_

"Let me guess. Underground?" I shot a Lightning Tether and got up to a roof.

"_Bingo. I'll call it in and let the electricians know they're getting some help down there."_

"Ok." I hung up and dialed the lab.

"_Hey,"_ said Caitlin. _"What's up?"_

"You got me on GPS, right?"

"_Yeah, why?"_

"Section of the city I'm in is experiencing a blackout. Can you direct me to the generator? I'm gonna help bring things back online."

"_Uh… you know where…"_

"Underground, I know. Geez, it's Empire City all over again, just minus the Reapers and Junkmen."

"_There should be a lid nearby. Are you gonna be ok?"_

"As long as there's not a lot of water. Can't exactly go for a swim anymore."

"_Have you tried containing your power when you go in water?"_

"Kinda need a better sense of control for that. I've tried that before, but I can't quite get it right." Cole heard the shift in her voice.

"_Why don't you try freezing the surface of the water? You have ice powers."_

"I have even less control over that, Frost. Unless you have any tips I can use."

"_Sorry, I don't think that Metahuman abilities can translate over to Conduits."_

"Damn. Oh well. Guess I could always test things out, see what I can do."

"_Good luck to you, Sparky."_

"Getting sick of that name, Icy."

"_Well get used to it. You owe me a date as well, so expect more of it."_

"Yes ma'am." I got to the sewer grate and hopped into the sewers after hanging up. I answered as Joe called me again.

"_Cole, we got a situation."_

"Talk to me."

"_Electrician got knocked out by a blown fuse during a routine examination, that's what caused the blackout. Don't know if he's still alive, if you can bring him back up, it'd be a great help."_

"Bring the power back on, find the electrician. On it."

"_I'll have an ambulance waiting outside the grate to help him. Be careful down there, Cole."_

"Yeah, story of my life. Hey, did Cisco find those two professors I helped the other day?"

"_Yeah, he did. Clifford and Marlize Devoe. History and physics professors in CCU. Why'd you want to check up on them?"_

"Figured Marlize would be able to help me learn more about my powers. Only so much my nearly completed degree in engineering can do. Zeke was the one that was better with tech."

"_What about Wells or Cisco?"_

"Cisco is good with tech, but he hasn't had any idea how to further extend my powers. And Wells thinks it's trivial compared to figuring out who's behind the Bus Metas." I started making my way to the generator. "Guy's got issues, doesn't he?"

"_That's an understatement."_

"Hey, how do you stand not punching him in the face?"

"_That's what the shooting range is for."_ I chuckled.

"Now if only I could control my electricity to shoot a gun."

"_Just fire off your bolts at some sheet metal."_

"Yeah, cause that's original."

"_Hey, just trying to help."_

"I know." I stopped after a minute and looked around, hearing someone crying. "Hey, Joe? Are there any other people down here?"

"_No, why?"_

"Because I can hear someone crying." I looked around and spotted a split in the tunnels. "I'm gonna go check it out."

"_Careful."_

"I heard you the first time." I made my way down the opposite way to the generator and looked around, my arms generating enough light for me to navigate around. "Anyone down here?!" I looked around and spotted a figure rocking back and forth in what looked like a white bodysuit. "Hey? Are you ok?" I stepped closer and saw it was a little girl with shoulder length black hair, probably no older than about 5 or 6. I put my hand on her shoulder and she gasped before turning to face me. The second our eyes met it was like feeling Sasha's mind controlling tar on me all over again. Instantly, I was back in Empire City, surrounded by the Aura Conduits of the First Sons, Ice Titans and Corrupted Behemoths. I almost started firing randomly as instincts started kicking in but experience with Sasha's Conduit ability made me realize it was an illusion, caused by a power.

I shook my head and fell on my ass as I ignored the attacks that weren't really there. I blinked as I felt something switch in my head, and the visions went away, being replaced with what looked like electrical outlines. I watched as an outline of the girl backed away from me before running off. I shook my head and tried reaching out to her, seeing an outline of my hand. "Wait!" She glanced back once before running off and I shook my head as my vision slowly started going back to normal. "What the hell?"

"_Cole, you alright?"_

"Yeah. There's a little girl down here. I'm gonna go after her."

"_Cole that electrician could die if he's not already dead. I'll send a few police after her soon, please get him out."_

"Alright, alright. I'm going." I took one last look at the direction the girl ran off to before heading for the generator. After acting as an actual conduit to finish the connection and bring the power back on in the blacked-out section of the city, I shook my head as my instincts kicked in.

"_Power's back on. You ok?"_

"Yeah. Think I got a new power. Two, actually."

"_Two?"_

"I'll explain later. The electrician is by the generator and is unconscious. He's barely breathing. I'm gonna heal him and bring him up to street level, then I'm gonna head back down and look for the girl."

"_Are you sure? I could just get a few officers down there to find her."_

"Yeah, I'm sure. She's about 5 or 6 and seems to have a mind altering ability I don't think she can control. One of my new powers should be able to help with that."

"_Alright but make it quick."_

"Got it." I focused on my vision and the electric outlines filled the space around me. "Ok, this is gonna take some getting used to."

"_What is it?"_

"It's like my Pulse, but different. It's like I can see the electrons around me, making outlines in my vision in the darkness."

"_That's handy."_ I brought the electrician back to the surface and went back down before using my vision to navigate the tunnels down where the girl went. I found her hiding behind some pipes and knelt down to her level.

"Hey. Are you ok?" Her outline gasped and looked up at me before she turned her head away quickly.

"Go away," she muttered. "I don't want to hurt you…"

"Hey, this is about the visions I saw earlier, right?" I saw her outline nod slowly. I chuckled and made sure my arm wasn't sparking before reaching out to her and lightly placing my hand on her head. "Relax, kid. I got it covered." She looked up at me and slightly recoiled, probably seeing something different about my eyes. "Powers are kind of helping me see you without seeing you. If that makes sense." I grinned slightly as she shook her head. "Why don't you come out of there?" She shook her head slightly.

"She doesn't trust people easily," said a deep and gruff voice behind me. I whirled around and aimed at whoever had snuck up on me. My Electron Vision allowed me to make out a man my height with a physique that showed he exercised often and was wearing a caped outfit with a cowl with extensions meant to resemble ears. "The last few years of her life have been spent in a lab after her powers manifested."

"Who are you?"

"I knew you weren't from Gotham." He stepped closer and I turned off my Electron Vision. The man wore a completely black armored outfit with the emblem of a dark grey bat on his chest. "I would've known if an electrical based Metahuman had ever popped up there. You also would've known exactly who I am."

"If you're going to take her back to the lab…" I sparked up my arms and stood between him and the girl. "You've got another thing coming, asshole."

"You should watch your language around children, MacGrath." He walked around me and knelt in front of her, his voice growing softer. "Are you ok?" I could barely make out her head nodding in the dim light provided by my arms.

"You know her?"

"I do. I got her out of the facility she was held in. The woman who took her there lost control of her project. We got separated and she ended up in Central City."

"Joe you getting this?"

"He can't hear you." The man held up his hand and showed a small device. "Signal jammer. The less people who know I'm in Central City, the better."

"What do you want?"

"A better life for her."

"Oh yeah, and I'm sure your scary demeanor is just what she needs."

"Better than leaving her with a man from another world." I stared at him for a moment. "I know you're not from this Earth, Cole."

"How the hell…"

"A long story. One I'll explain at a later date. For now…" The man helped the girl out from behind the pipes and placed a pair of glasses on her eyes. "I'm entrusting her to you."

"Me?"

"You both could use some stability in your life. And based on how you handled that boy in the car accident, you know how to treat children correctly. Your powers also seem to be extremely versatile, with time you'll be able to help her with her own."

"Hold on, why am I…"

"Most would've just left her down here alone. You came back to help her, despite what her powers could do to you. She'll be better in your hands than in someone else's. The glasses will stop her perception altering powers from affecting those around her. In a few weeks, you'll find an invitation to a gala waiting for you at STAR Labs. I suggest you attend." She walked to me and I checked on her briefly, seeing a few bumps and bruises I healed her and turned to the man.

"And who the hell are…" I looked around, no one was there. He just up and vanished I sighed and knelt to the girl. "What's your name?" She looked at me and stayed silent, eyes wide. I sighed. "They didn't give you a name at the lab?"

"Subject 135-851181918."

"That's not a name, kid. 135…" I chuckled softly as memories of Trish drilling letter-number ascociation in my head sprang up. "I'll call you Ace. How does that sound?" She blinked at me and I sighed slightly.

"_Cole, you ok,"_ asked Joe on my phone. _"Couldn't reach you for a second."_

"Yeah, I'm fine. Found the girl. We're coming up."


End file.
